His Brother's Girlfriend's Neighbour
by Sketcher1994
Summary: When his younger brother went missing, he knew exactly where to look – Blondie's bed. Instead of texting her, he heads straight to her block of flats. Unfortunately, he doesn't know which number she is and finds himself deciphering the tiny handwriting of L**y, only he's not shouting down the speaker at Blondie. He's shouting at her neighbour. Expect tired Gajeel and adult humour.
1. Chapter 1

**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

 **Just a 'little' something I started writing a while back! It's still unfinished, but here's the first chapter! Just wrote this for fun, so please enjoy the humour! :)**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

The stupid brat was going to make him late for work again. What makes him think he can just keep doing this? Even Blondie keeps telling him to stop and he still breaks into her damn flat! Gajeel sighed as he reached the right building, knowing that his half-brother was in there. Gajeel even knew which flat – it was the second door from the top of the stairs that brought him from the ground floor to the first. He also knew how the idiot was getting into his friend's flat, but he was not planning to give that away any time soon – it was too amusing to see Blondie's face as she handed him over. It always managed to make the irritating problems of turning up late for work bearable.

He sighed, staring at the panel of buzzers. Normally, Blondie would have text him and she would have met him there, dragging his irritating brat of a younger half-brother. This morning, he had actually woken up early and found the brat's bed empty on his way to the bathroom. He had not been amused. He had ended up backtracking to his room and pulling on some clothes, very reluctantly. He had then stuck his head into his little sister's room to make sure she was still asleep, before grabbing his car keys and running out the front door. The brat was going to get him fired one of these days.

He glared at the buzzers, pulling his phone out of his pocket. She had not text him yet, so she was probably still asleep. Would she hear her phone if he text her to say he was outside? Knowing his luck, probably not. He sighed and looked back at the buzzers looking for 'Lucy'. He came to the fifth label and squinted, trying to read the tiny joined-up writing – what was it with high school girls and weird writing?! Well, it certainly looked like 'Lucy'...at least, it definitely had four letters, started with an 'L' and ended with a 'y'...the middle two letters looked like they could be 'uc'. He jabbed his thumb onto the buzzer, holding it there until a crackle sounded from the speaker.

" _Excuse me, but could you release my buzzer? There really isn't any need to hold it down_." A female voice called through the static.

"Look, I'm just here to pick the brat up, so can you just kick him out already?" He grunted, releasing the buzzer.

" _Excuse me_?"

"I don't have time for this, just kick him out and I'll take him home, ok?!" He sighed, not bothering to keep the frustration out of his voice.

" _I have no idea what you are talking about?_ "

"Come on! You don't normally give me this shit! You're normally the one texting me to come get his sorry ass! Are you just doing this to piss me off?!" He growled, leaning his arm above the speaker to make sure he was close enough in for her to hear just how unhappy he was.

" _I have no idea who you are – I think you must have the wrong flat._ "

"Seriously?! I'm going to be late for work and the kid is going to wonder why the hell she's been left alone in the damn flat! Just kick him out or let me in to do it!" He snapped, thumping the base of his fist against the speaker.

The static vanished, leaving him standing in silence on the front doorstep. What the hell was Blondie playing at?! She knew he had to get him home so that the brat could get ready for school, before he could to drop him and the kid off, and then try to get to work on time! He jabbed the buzzer again, shoving it in as far as it would go, holding it as he stood furiously waiting for the bitch to answer again. He knew she was there and he knew the brat was there too. If the brat was not in his own bed, he was in hers. That was how it always was.

" _Look, I have no idea what you want from me, but please leave me alone_." The female voice suddenly called out, the static returned.

"You know I can't do that – if he skips school again he's going to get suspended and I can't deal with that shit! I've got the kid to look after too! You don't normally agree to hide him, so just let me in already, Blondie!" He exclaimed, glancing at his watch nervously.

" _Blondie? Hahaha, you have the wrong buzzer – you want the one below mine!_ "

"What?" He grunted, frowning at the speaker as if it had just slapped him.

" _I think you are looking for my friend, Lucy? You must be Natsu's brother?_ " The voice smiled through the static.

"Eh, yeah, I'm the brat's brother...?" He mumbled, cringing as he realised he had just lost his temper at some woman he had never met.

" _Haha, am I correct in guessing he's broken into Lu's flat again? I'll just buzz you in – I'm assuming you know which door is hers?_ "

"Yeah...Blondie's brought me up a few times to actually drag him out...He won't come home if we've fallen out..." He explained awkwardly, unsure what to say. "...Sorry...for shouting at you...I thought Blondie was messing me around..."

" _Hehe, I realise that now – just come on up._ " The voice giggled as the door clicked, signalling that it had been unlocked.

The static cut out and he pulled the door open, cringing at the idea of the woman waiting for him. Would she come out of her flat? Or would she just forget he had even been there until she next seen Blondie? He walked past two doors that lead to ground floor flats and began his ascent, peaking through the bottom of the railings as his head became level with the first floor. He could see the two doors sitting side by side. He had pressed the fifth buzzer and the woman had told him he had wanted the sixth. The woman must be behind that first door...Should he knock and apologise? No, he was already going to be late.

He finished his ascent and walked up to the second door, banging loudly on the pine-coated chip-wood door. He heard laughter come from somewhere inside the flat next door, knowing it was the woman he had just been yelling at. He really would have to apologise, but he did not have time. He heard the chain on the other side of the door slide loose, before the chub ground loudly, the door swinging open to reveal a sleepy looking Blondie, sighing heavily at the sight of him.

"I didn't even have a chance to kick him out of my bed...Just found him when you knocked...Figured I'd better answer the door...How'd you get in?" She yawned, shuffling back to let him in.

"Your neighbour...I pressed the wrong buzzer." He grumbled, wandering into the bedroom and grabbing a handful of cherry blossom pink hair, pulling the teen into a sitting position. "Get up, Brat! I don't have time for this shit! The kid'll be awake before we get back!"

"Let go of my hair, jerk!" The pink haired teen snapped, kicking out at Gajeel.

"Natsu, just get out of my bed already." Lucy sighed from the doorway, watching the two of them as she ran a brush through the tangles in her bed head. "You're making Wendy sit alone at yours and Gajeel is going to be late for work."

"Fine..." Natsu moaned, Gajeel finally releasing his hair.

"Sorry about the brat – he ain't got any manners." Gajeel grunted, walking back out of Lucy's room while his younger brother followed after him, pulling his clothes back on. "Chances are I'll see you again tomorrow."

"Well at least wait until after you pick him up from school to shout at him or I'll have to text you tonight to get him out of my flat." Lucy joked, holding the flat door open for them.

"Good point." Gajeel sighed, disappearing out of the door.

* * *

"Morning." Gajeel grunted into the speaker as the static sounded.

" _Morning. I thought I corrected your mistake yesterday?_ "

"You did..." He replied awkwardly, finding himself without any good words.

" _So why did you press my buzzer? Although, can I just complement you on your appropriate use of said buzzer?_ "

"Why thank you, I generally try not to be an asshole to complete strangers." He returned, smirking at her attitude.

" _That is a very good idea_." The voice laughed. " _Now, why were you pressing my buzzer and not Lu's?_ "

"Well...Shit...Em, well...I figured since you were already up...it was...you know, easier...to ask you to, em, let me in? I know Blondie's still asleep because she hasn't text me yet." He explained, looking down at his feet, noticing his boots could do with a bit of a clean.

" _Uh-huh. What makes you think you aren't waking me up by pressing my buzzer?_ "

"You don't sound tired." He smirked, waiting for her to come up with a smart comeback.

" _Shouldn't that have been a giveaway yesterday then?_ "

"I wasn't paying attention yesterday..." He replied, cringing at how easily she had turned that around.

" _Then your answer doesn't work unless you have been thinking about our conversation yesterday_."

"Shit...Well, I wanted to apologise but I ain't good with people...Didn't know what to say..." He mumbled, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

" _You apologised yesterday!_ " The voice laughed, irking him.

"Well don't expect me to do it again!" He snapped. He slapped his hand against his forehead; he had just shouted at her. Again.

" _Hahaha, quite the temper, haven't we?_ " The voice mused. " _I'll just buzz you up._ "

The static cut out and the door clicked, allowing him to walk in unhindered. He marched up the stairs and banged on Lucy's door, hearing shouting erupt from the inside followed by his brother's yelp. Well, he had come here again. Her flat door swung open, revealing an angry looking Blondie and guilty looking brat. He smirked as Lucy practically threw his brother at him before slamming the door, earning a giggle from the flat next door. He lifted Natsu up to his eye level to glare at him before dropping him back to the floor and beginning to shove him downstairs in the direction of his car.

* * *

"Morning." He grunted, waiting for some smart reply.

" _Good morning. Coming to apologise for losing your temper three days ago?_ "

"Come on, it's Friday morning...Can you just let me in?" He groaned, rubbing his forehead.

" _Why don't you ask Lu to let you in?_ "

"Because you're awake and I don't want to stand out here like an idiot while she wakes up, yells at him, and drags him down here." He sighed, falling back against the door.

" _You have a point...How come you've just started coming to the door and pressing the buzzer?_ "

"Because I woke up early last Monday and now I've realised I end up less late if I wake up fifteen minutes earlier so that I can come straight here if the brat isn't in his own bed." He replied, suddenly wondering why he was explaining himself to a complete stranger.

" _Well that makes sense...I'll let you up on one condition._ "

"And what's that?" He sighed, turning to grab the handle, waiting for the click.

" _I get to see Lu's face when she answers the door – I only get to hear the aftermath when I see her later_."

"I'm pretty sure you get to hear it through the wall too, but deal."

The static silenced and the door clicked, letting him in. He hurried up the stairs, stopping as his eyes reached level with the first floor, curious to finally get a glimpse of the mysterious woman on the other side of the speaker. Her door was closed. Was he supposed to knock? Or would she open her door when she heard him knock on Blondie's? Was she really going to appear, or was she just testing him to see if he would agree to her terms? He sighed and continued his ascent, not taking his eyes off of her door as he walked up to Lucy's. He knocked on the door, hearing a shout.

The door next to him opened.

"Wow." He gasped.

"What?" She mused, looking back up at him.

"I was not expecting a skinny little midget with electric blue hair." He stared, unable to look away as his surprise held him there.

"Well I wasn't expecting a red-eyed giant with metal sticking out of every inch of his face." She returned, glaring at him. "I guess I shouldn't have been surprised, given your skills when it comes to getting something that you want."

"I wasn't trying to be a jerk..." He replied awkwardly, looking away from her. "So-"

"Morning, Gajeel!" Lucy snapped, swinging the door open. "Natsu's here, so you can come get him – he's clinging onto my bedroom window as if I'm trying to drag him to his execution."

"You are." Gajeel returned, storming into the flat, unaware of the little blunette following after him. "You. Car. NOW!" He roared, yanking at the back of Natsu's t-shirt.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, Metalface! I'm staying here!" Natsu yelled back, kicking out at Gajeel as he clung to the window frame.

"You've made me leave the kid alone in the house three times this week, brat! Get to the damn car!" Gajeel snapped, grabbing Natsu's arm and pulling him free. "You're going to apologise the second that you get in the damn door, you got that?!"

"I heard you, Metalface! I just don't want to go with you!" Natsu shouted, glaring up at Gajeel.

"I don't give a shit, Dumbass! Just get out to the car! It's not like I'm looking after your sorry ass for my own amusement!" Gajeel growled, literally kicking him out the door. "Sorry, Blondie – I'll put a damn lock on his door tomorrow!"

"Bye, Gajeel. Bye, Natsu – apologise to Wendy or I'll kick your ass again!" Lucy called after them to the sound of cute giggling.


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

 **Hey! Glad so many enjoyed the first chapter, so here's the second! Please have a giggle at Gajeel and Levy's expense! And Natsu, if you're up to it! ;P**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

"Ok, hey...he used the window..."

" _So you put a lock on his door after all?_ "

"Yeah...It worked!...Until he apparently worked out a way to get down from the third floor out of his bedroom window...I didn't realise the brat was one of those street-runner people..." Gajeel sighed, leaning against the door.

" _You're going to be really late for work, aren't you?_ "

"Yup, and Blonde hasn't even text me...Kinda wondering if she's sitting up there waiting for me." He grunted, deciding he was definitely going to shout at her if she was.

" _Shall I go find out?_ "

"Think you could let me in first? I feel like an idiot standing out here." He mumbled, refusing to look at the speaker as if she could see him through it.

" _Sure. I'll buzz you up, but don't worry about hurrying – I'm already up here_."

"You make it sound as if I was racing up to beat you there." He mused, turning to grab the handle.

" _You know what I meant_."

He grinned as the static cut out, the door clicking seconds later. He swung the door open and jogged to the stairs, hurrying up them just in time to catch her knocking on Lucy's door. He smirked at her turning around to look at him in surprise – she clearly had not expected him to get there so fast. He glanced away as he suddenly realised what she was wearing. She shifted awkwardly, apparently realising he was suddenly uncomfortable. He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again, his eyes falling on the orange cotton short shorts, the curve of her ass just below the so-called 'legs' of the shorts.

"You got up pretty fast." She stated, turning to face him awkwardly, folding her arms across her exposed stomach that appeared below the loose fitting crop-top.

"What?!" He exclaimed, snapping his attention downwards, looking back at her before looking away, his cheeks burning.

"I meant you got up here pretty fast..." She replied sheepishly, her face a brilliant crimson as she tried to look anywhere but at his crotch.

"I figured I'd take you up on your challenge...Were you dressed like that on Friday...?" He mumbled, resisting the urge to move his hands to cover himself, knowing she could not really see anything.

"No...I was wea-"

"I thought that wasn't Gajeel's knock." Lucy smirked, suddenly standing in her open doorway.

"Took your sweet time, didn't you, Blondie?" He growled, not liking the expression on her face.

"Of course. Natsu is ready to be carried away – he's huffing though. I decided to be nice and tell him that it wasn't you coming for him." She replied, an almost evil look to her smirk.

"Perfect." He grinned, walking into the flat to find a very surprised Natsu.

He 'escorted' Natsu down the stairs, waving back over his shoulder to Lucy and her short, blue-haired neighbour. He watched as Natsu climbed into the car before getting in himself, waiting for his brother to try to run. His phone buzzed in his pocket, the words 'are those words of condemnation that I hear' calling out to him. Blondie. He had picked up Natsu, so what the hell did she want now? He sighed and pulled the phone out of his pocket, flipping it open and clicking the button, her message shining back at him.

'I saw you checking her out.'

Oh great, Blondie was going to start giving him shit now because he had looked at her damn neighbour's ass.

"Is he really home?" Natsu whined, staring out the car window as Gajeel started up the engine.

"If he is, then he's a complete ass." He sighed, pulling away from the curb. "He hasn't said he's coming home and he wasn't there when I left. Your girlfriend just wanted you out of her bed."

"You know she'll hit you again if she finds out you called her that." Natsu replied, glaring out the window.

"If she doesn't want me to call her that, she shouldn't let you sleep in her bed in the first place."

* * *

"Hey, it's me again."

" _Hello, 'Me'_."

"Hah hah, is he here?" Gajeel grunted, frowning at the speaker.

" _Hmmm, well, I am the only one here, but if you are asking if Natsu is at Lu's...I have no idea. He was there last night, but I don't know if he left_."

"Yeah, that's why I'm asking...He didn't come home last night and Blondie didn't text me to come extradite him from hers." He sighed, still frowning at the speaker.

" _Fancy word_." The voice smiled. " _Want me to check, or do you just want me to buzz you in?_ "

"Anyway to check without being an ass? The brat ain't answering his phone and Blondie hasn't text me back...Don't know if I should check with his other friends or just start banging on her door." He groaned, falling back against the door.

" _Can you repeat that...please...? You must have moved too far from the microphone...I only caught parts of that..._ "

"Huh? Why? What did you think I just said?" He frowned, watching the speaker as he waited for her answer.

" _Em...'check', 'an ass', 'the brat ain't answering his phone', 'text me back'...'Don't know if I should', 'start banging on her door'...You can see why I'd be a little confused..._ "

"Yeah, shit, eh, you missed about half of that...basically I don't know if I should be an ass and start banging on her door, even though the brat might not even be there, or if I should try texting his other friends." He explained, making sure he was closer to the speaker.

" _Why do you have his friends' numbers...? Are you all friends...or are...?_ "

"I'm not his creepy stalker. I do know all his friends. I don't randomly text them. They didn't give me their numbers, they just text me from their phones when the brat makes an idiot of himself and I need to come get him. One of them actually did give me their number just in case – nice if you stay on the right side of her, but more terrifying than Blondie when she's pissed." He mused, remembering the last time he had see the red head lose her temper with Natsu and his best friend.

 _Are those words of condemnation that I hear._

" _What was that?_ "

"My phone...Blondie just text..." He muttered, flipping his phone open.

" _That wasn't what I meant...but I think I can answer your question. Judging by the shouting that just followed the sound of something smashing, I'd say Natsu is here._ "

"Yeah, this text agrees with that...Apparently he switched her alarm off...I don't know what the smash was." He sighed, closing his phone.

" _I'll buzz you up_."

"Thanks."

* * *

"Should I even bother?"

" _Should I just get you a key?_ "

"That would be very sweet of you, but I've only met you twice." He grinned, laughing as the static cut out and the door clicked.

He wandered into the block of flats, jogged up the stairs, and knocked on the blunette's door.

"Morning." He smirked as her head of very wet waves of blue hair emerged through the small gap between the door and its frame.

"Morning. I think you have the wrong door." She replied, raising a thin blue eyebrow at him.

"No, I was just checking in on you – you didn't come out the other day when you let me in and you barely said anything this morning?" He frowned, replaying his words inside his head. "And I am being weird...Sorry, I'll just go get my creep of a little brother from his girlfriend's bed."

"You were earlier the other morning and you're early today again – I'm just out of the shower." She sighed, shaking her head at him.

"You put your pyjamas back on after you get out of the shower?" He mused, grinning down at her.

"Well you keep ringing my buzzer as I'm getting dried and it's quicker to pull my pyjamas back on than put my clothes on." She replied, narrowing her large hazel eyes at him.

"Hazel...Interesting...I'd assumed they were just brown..." He mumbled, before suddenly remembering himself. "How come your hair is only wet this time?"

"It was wet last time too, but I didn't answer the door. It dries fast because it's short – and did you just make an observation about my eyes?" She returned, her eyes slowly widening as she spoke.

"Shit, yeah, I did...Em, I just noticed your eyes are hazel, rather than just plain brown...I wasn't trying to be weird...So, now that I know you're ok, I'll just get my brother." He replied awkwardly, sidestepping to knock on the other door, watching her out of the corner of his eye as she opened the door in a green dressing gown with black cats on, moving to lean against the bit of wall between the doors.

"Morning, Gajeel." Lucy groaned as she opened the door, shoving Natsu out into his chest.

"What broke?" The midget asked, still leaning on the wall.

"Just the bulb for the floor lamp – I've made him replace it already, so I'll just have the broken glass to clean up when I get back from school." Lucy sighed, earning a sympathetic look from the blunette before both of them disappeared back into their own flats, leaving Gajeel and Natsu just standing there.

"I think you might be pushing your luck, Natsu." Gajeel stated, turning to head for the stairs.

"She won't stay mad for long." Natsu replied, following after him.

"It's not her getting mad you have to worry about, it's when she stops getting mad and decides she wants nothing more to do with you." Gajeel explained, looking back at his little brother.

"Like your last girlfriend?" Natsu frowned, glancing back at Lucy's door.

"Yes, like my last girlfriend, asshole."

* * *

Gajeel pulled up outside the high school, smiling back at his little sister in the mirror as she wrapped her arms around him from behind his seat. He growled at his brother as he made to complain, earning a frown from his sister. He reached behind him and ruffled her hair, making her pout as she began to climb out of the car. He waited 'patiently' for Natsu to get out of his passenger seat. The teen just sat there, staring at his dashboard, fiddling with his seatbelt.

"What?" Gajeel grunted, rolling his eyes.

"Luce's ignoring me...It's no fun when she won't talk to me..." Natsu mumbled, unclicking the seatbelt.

"I tried to warn you two weeks ago that this would happen...That why you haven't been to hers since?" Gajeel sighed, almost feeling sympathetic as he remembered when he had ended up in a similar situation. Almost. "You should have stopped being a jerk to her."

"I stopped going to hers because you told me to be careful or I'd end up like you...and she stopped talking to me the other day...I don't even know why..." Natsu moaned, looking at Gajeel as if he was supposed to know everything.

"You moron! Just because I warned you, doesn't mean you start avoiding her all of a sudden! Text her and go see her while she's _awake_! Don't just stop going to see her all together!" He exclaimed, slapping the back of his brother's head. "What am I going to do with you..."

"Normally you'd kick me out of the car and roll your eyes at me." Natsu replied, shrugging his shoulders.

"Rhetorical question, idiot." Gajeel sighed, rubbing his forehead. "I'll make you something for her when we get home and then you're going to go straight to hers as if nothing's wrong, got it?"

"Got it!" Natsu grinned, opening the car door and climbing out.

Gajeel groaned as his car door slammed shut, deciding he would make Natsu buy him a new door the second the idiot got a job. He checked his mirrors, looking for any cars or pedestrians before starting to pull out of the parking space. He stopped as a flash of blue caught his eye. He looked back towards the school bus, spotting Lucy walking away from it towards the school gates. Gajeel's jaw tensed as he spotted blue again. Walking beside the blonde was a short, wavy-haired blunette dressed in the school uniform. He checked his mirrors again and pulled out of the space, quickly heading off in the direction of his workplace.

* * *

"You're in school."

"... _No, I'm in my flat or you wouldn't be talking to me right now?_ "

"No, I mean you're still in school, as in, you still go to high school." He snorted, annoyed that he had not realised before.

" _And...? Do you want a medal? I'm in sixth year with Lu and Natsu if that helps._ "

"Why didn't you say anything?" He challenged, narrowing his eyes at the speaker.

" _I didn't think to? You ring my buzzer a couple of times a week when you come to get Natsu, so I didn't think you'd really care all that much about what I do when I'm not buzzing you in. Actually, I haven't buzzed you in in two weeks – hello by the way, not heard from you in a while. Hope everything's been well?_ "

"Yeah, everything's fine for me, it's just I got a bit of a surprise when I was dropping the brat and my little sister off at school." He replied, laughing quietly at her sudden greeting.

" _So, I know your sister must be Wendy...What's the age gap? I have to ask, it's just that you keep mentioning your kid, and I know I shouldn't ask, but I'm really curious about how old you are since you apparently have a kid when your little sister is only twelve_." The voice rambled.

"Gihe, you've got it a little wrong there, midget. I call my sister 'Kid' – it's more force of habit than anything else...Wasn't too happy about getting a little sister in the first place, but she's kinda grown on me." He grinned, sure that she was blushing on the other side of the speaker. "I'm twenty-one by the way...Guessing you must be about sixteen?"

" _Seventeen – I'm one of the oldest in my class_."

"Much older than Blondie?" He asked, subconsciously biting his lip.

" _About four months...My birthday is the middle of March_."

"Seventeen and a half then." He corrected, grinning back at the speaker. "I'll be twenty-two in December."

" _Well, it's October now...In fact, it's Halloween next week...Lu's having a flat party...Well, we both are – we're going to have both our doors open and let our friends wander between our flats..._ "

"I'm probably going to get a phone call then? I was planning on going out for a drink with a couple of friends...Guess I'll be cancelling that – thanks for the heads up." He sighed, pulling his phone out of his pocket.

" _Sorry.._."

"I genuinely meant that, midget – I ain't a fan of drink-driving." He snorted, shaking his head at her.

" _Oh, right! Em...well, Wendy is invited...so both of them will be here..._ "

"Wonderful...Just what I need..." He groaned, banging his head against the doorframe.

" _Are you okay?! It sounded like you just got hit by a wooden baseball bat!?_ "

"...No?...I just hit my head off of the doorframe...?" He frowned, wondering how she had managed to gain such a vivid imagination – had it been his part of town, it would not of surprised him if he had, but it was _because_ it was the nice part of town that he hated standing out here.

" _Oh my god! I'll be right down!_ "

"Wait, what!?" He replied, sighing as he realised the static had cut out.

He watched as the little blunette appeared at the bottom of the stairs and started running towards him in her dressing gown, clutching it to her body. She turned the chub, swinging the door open, and pulling him inside by his arm. He stood gaping at her as she pulled his head down towards her, wondering what the hell she was doing. He put his hands out to steady himself as she pulled his head further forward, bending him at a weird angle to look at the back of his head. She squeaked and pulled back, pulling him after her as he still held on in an attempt to not fall face-first on the floor. He straighten up, still holding onto her before snapping his hands away, his face flushed.

"Sorry!" He yelped, tucking his hands under his arms as he tried to look anywhere but at her. "I really didn't mean to do that!"

"I know!" She squeaked, her face as red as his must be. "That was my fault...I bent you over too far..."

"Please don't say that again..." He grumbled, his face feeling even hotter.

"Wh-Why? I was only bending you over so that-"

"Just stop talking, please? Sorry, I honestly didn't mean to grope you...I lost my balance and I am really sorry – I'm not that kind of guy, promise." He apologised, cutting her off as he tried to rid his mind of the image she was creating. "I'm just going to go get my brother and we're just going to pretend this never happened, ok?"

"Are you okay...?" She asked sheepishly, pulling her dressing gown tighter around herself.

"Not really...I kinda feel like some creep right now..." He sighed, trying not to look at her as her hips became more obvious through the thin green material.

"I meant were you ok as in, you just got hit and ended up hitting your head off of the doorframe...You just said you wanted to forget about the whole me checking you out and you groping my chest." She replied awkwardly, looking away from him.

"...I didn't get hit – I intentionally banged my head against the doorframe? I'm pretty sure I told you that before you ran down here dress like that." He finished, gesturing to her dressing gown.

"I asked if you were ok and you said '...No?...I just hit my head off of the doorframe...' – that's why I ran down here like this! I thought you were hurt! I came down here to look at you!" She exclaimed, glaring at him.

"Huh...I can see how you'd get the wrong idea...but thanks for the concern." He mused, before a smirk appeared across his lips. "And thanks for coming down here just to look at me and check me out. It was quite interesting having you bending me over."

"You-! Uh! You're impossible!" She snapped, turning to storm back up the stairs.

"Damn..." He murmured, watching her ass as she disappeared up the stairs, before suddenly remembering that he was here for his brother and darting up the stairs after her. Her door slammed shut as he reached the first floor.


	3. Chapter 3

**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

 **Hey! I know, I know, I haven't updated this in a while. Why? Simple. It was _really_ unseasonable. It's less than two months to Halloween now, so it's acceptable. I've got (at least) three more chapters I can give you before it runs the risk of becoming unseasonable again :P ** (Might attempt to update fortnightly? My shifts are organised on a weekly basis and all I can guarantee each week is 12-til-finish on Saturdays and Sundays. Updating fortnightly - all going well - would mean it didn't become unseasonable again :P )

 **Please enjoy the update! I hope it's worth the wait!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

"...Hey?"

" _Oh, hey, you made it!_ "

"Hello!" Wendy chimed, standing on her toes to speak into the microphone.

" _Hey, Wendy!_ _Natsu there too?_ "

"What, are we not good enough for you?" Gajeel smirked, laying a hand on top of his sister's head so that he could speak.

" _You know that's not what I meant._ " The voice puffed. " _I'll buzz you up._ "

"Mind letting these two in too?" He joked, his hand already on the handle.

" _Very funny, Gajeel._ "

Gajeel pushed on the door as the click sounded, the music and chatter above them already sounding louder. Hopefully they had warned their neighbours – the last thing he needed was losing his job for being at some Halloween party that got broken up by the police, especially considering he was in charge of the kid. He sighed and pushed Wendy after Natsu as he ran on ahead. Judging by the noise that erupted as he reached the top of the stairs, the first person the devil ran into was the stripper. He smiled reassuringly at Wendy, surprised as she smiled back at him enthusiastically – just how well did she know the brat's friends?

"Hey! What's in the box?!" The increasingly familiar voice called as his sister reached the top of the stairs.

"Halloween cookies – there's pumpkins, skulls, and bats! Gajeel and I have been baking!" Wendy beamed, handing the midget the plastic ice cream tub.

"Dodgy oven...Couldn't let her work it on her own..." He added awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck as he offered her another two litre ice cream tub, one that used to be for mint choc chip. "Here...These are for you...Don't know if you'll like them, but I figured I'd do something while the biscuits were in the oven...I figured I could make you a peace offering..."

"Uh-huh...Peace offering...For being a jerk last time I seen you, or for ringing my buzzer a couple of mornings a week?" She hummed, raising a perfectly drawn swirled blue eyebrow.

"I was hoping both...There's about twenty large brownies in there. I say 'about' because I live with a moron who doesn't think before he starts shoving things in his mouth – there _was_ twenty-four." He shrugged, trying to not make it too obvious that he was running his eyes over her costume.

"So he ate four?" She laughed, grinning as she looked up at his hair. "Please tell me that is cat ears...made from your _own_ hair?"

"Yes, they are cat ears...Not my choice, but I didn't have a costume and the kid wanted to be creative...I think she used half my new tub of gel." He sighed, touching his 'ears'. "Before you ask, I don't have a tail and neither does the kid...You didn't comment on her ears."

"I noticed they were made from her hair; I was just wondering who made them?" She smiled sweetly, taking the second box. "Whoever it is must have had a lot of patience to split her hair into two ponytails and then split the two ponytails, only to somehow make them into rabbit ears – I like how one flops perfectly in the middle."

"There's four wires in her hair and a lot of styling mouse...That's why I ended up with the gel...I'm still trying to think of something that isn't a cat, but then I'd have to hope the kid doesn't call me out on it...She's very proud of her cat ears." He explained, leaning back onto the railings, more openly studying her costume. "Nice witch's costume...The blue under the corset bit actually matches your hair...Can't decide if I like the poufy skirt or not..."

"Why? What's wrong with it?" She frowned, looking down past the boxes to study her skirt.

"It hides your ass, but it still _looks_ good...Can't decide if you should be back in those shorts or not instead of the dress." He replied thoughtfully, grinning as she glared at him.

"Jerk." She snapped, turning to walk back into her flat.

"Don't you know it." He grinned, following after her, stopping instantly as her walls, or lack of, caught his eyes. "Wow...That is...a lot of books...Wow."

"Food and drink is in here, games are in Lu's." She stated, ignoring his disbelieving stare directed towards her bookcases that completely lined her living room walls.

"I'd say 'maybe I should have brought you a book instead of brownies', but I think you might have them all...Impressive...You read them all?" He muttered, not taking his eyes away from the hundreds of books.

"Yes...And there's some more in my bedroom..." She replied, not looking at him as she clearly tried to decide if he was making fun of her.

"In your bedroom? Any particular topic?" He asked, looking at her as if he was genuinely interested. Of course, he was, but he was pretty sure he could get some teasing in.

"Hm, not really...They're in alphabetical order by author, Y-Z is in my room." She smiled, clearly surprised.

"Are Y-Z any good for in bed?" He continued, returning her smile as he waited for her to catch on.

"Oh, some of them are – I end up with some pretty interesting dreams if I fall asleep reading the more vivid ones." She mused, clearing recalling one in her head.

"I bet you do." He grinned, watching as she tilted her head slightly, a questioning smile across her blue lips. "Maybe you should try acting out some of those dreams some time."

"Gajeel!" She gasped in horror, slapping his arm as she glared at him. "I'm not reading _those_ kinds of books!"

"Shame, because I wouldn't mind finding out just how those dreams of yours go." He teased, leaning past her to grab a bottle of beer from the table.

"You're completely impossible! Go find your friends!" She glared, shoving him towards her flat door as two tall guys stood watching them awkwardly.

"What?" He frowned, stopping dead as she continued to try to push him out of her flat.

"Your two friends? The ones that you cancelled on?" She sighed, rolling her eyes at him.

"What?" He repeated, completely confused.

"The guy who looks like something out of an eighties music video and the girl dressed for a Russian winter?" She replied, raising her eyebrows expectantly at him.

"Why are they here?" He frowned, looking at her as if she had gone mad.

"They turned up and said they were with you? Your girlfriend was really apologetic, but she's just sitting awkwardly in a corner now...She doesn't seem very talkative...?" The blunette witch explained, shrugging her shoulders.

"Yeah...She's a little shy, but once you get her talking, it's hard to get her to shut up. What's the other idiot doing?" He sighed, hoping that he had not broken anything.

"Sitting drinking and laughing with everyone else? What's his name? He didn't exactly introduce himself and I'm assuming your girlfriend's name is Juvia since she appears to be talking in the third person?" She asked quietly, clearly wondering if she was offending him.

"Ok, well, he's Totomaru and, yes, her name is Juvia and, no, she is not my girlfriend. I've known her for years and I went to high school with him." Gajeel explained, shrugging his shoulders as he turned to leave her flat to join the others.

"So...where is your girlfriend...?" She inquired, flinching slightly as he stopped again to frown back at her.

"Who told you I had a girlfriend?" He demanded, feeling a little annoyed that someone was apparently spreading gossip about him.

"Oh, no-one...I kind of just assumed that...you know...you'd have one...?" She replied sheepishly, looking everywhere but directly at him.

"No, I ain't got a girlfriend. Had one until three months ago, but I've got two kids to look after and apparently putting them first all the time doesn't go down too well with women. People keep telling me that women like guys that take responsibility and look after cute little girls, but not in my experience." He grunted, moving to continue to head out her door.

"Well, I think it's very mature of you, looking after your siblings. Where are your parents...?" She asked nervously, moving to follow after him.

"It's a long story and you're missing all the games hanging around in here with me." He stated, not looking back at her. "Go have fun – I'll go see if I can persuade Juvia to talk to your friends."

...

"Morning."

"Morning already?" He groaned, stretching his arms out.

"Definitely morning. You ok?"

"Fine...Just a little tired – didn't drink enough to get hung over." He sighed, moving to sit up, his head clashing with something solid. "What did I just hit?"

"If you'd opened your eyes before you'd moved, you'd have realised I was leaning over you." The blue haired midget huffed, still rubbing her forehead as he forced his eyes open and leaned back on his elbows.

"Sorry...I seem to keep causing you problems. Where'd you sleep last night?" He asked, noticing she had changed into 'pyjamas', or rather, a t-shirt and another pair of short shorts.

"In my bed and, in case you forgot, you decided to sleep in the middle of my bedroom floor. Wendy's in my bed and I'm assuming Natsu is in Lu's...Juvia, I believe, is still on my sofa and Jet and Droy are on my living room floor. Gray is asleep on Lu's sofa and everyone one else managed to make their way home. Jet and Droy would have gone home, but they didn't want to leave me completely unprotected considering your terrible jokes last night." She explained, going along her fingers as she accounted for everyone that had stayed.

"I should probably take them home now, shouldn't I?" He sighed, glancing up at the side of the bed, before suddenly realising he was lying in a sea of orange and yellow cushions. "What's with the cushions?"

"They're from my bed and you should probably let her sleep a little longer. I was going to ask if you wanted to move into my bed for a while?" She smiled, watching him expectantly.

"With my little sister in it? I'll admit, I might have given it a second thought if she wasn't." He grinned, laughing as she hit him over the head with a cushion.

"Jerk!" She exclaimed, glaring at him.

"Amn't I always?" He smirked, earning another smack with the cushion. "What you planning to do while I'm in your bed...and I wasn't suggesting anything dirty, that was a genuine question. As was the book question yesterday, but I decided to twist that."

"Jerk..." She mumbled, getting to her feet. "I'm going to cook some breakfast."

"So, did you sleep with my sister like that?" He called as she opened the bedroom door.

"...Yes? I leant her a nightie since she hadn't brought anything. Why? Do you have a problem with my pyjamas?" She frowned, looking back over her shoulder at him.

"No, I was just getting a little jealous, that's all." He smirked, laughing as her face flushed.

"I hate you." She puffed, disappearing out of the door.

He got up from the floor, shaking his head at her. He looked around him at the cushions, wondering why she needed so many, before carefully picking his way over to the bed. He smiled softly down at the little girl in the bed, glad that she was sleeping so peacefully in the strange flat. He slipped out of his trousers and slid under the covers, laughing as he felt his little sister roll over, snuggling into him, in her sleep. He wrapped his arm around her carefully, trying not to wake her, and closed his eyes, drifting off almost instantly.

...

Gajeel yawned, stretching his arms out sleepily. He rolled out of the bed and walked up to the door, pulling it open to find a blinding light shining back into his eyes. He scrunched them up, rubbing them before opening them again to the sound of girls giggling. He frowned as he saw his sister and the blue-haired midget sitting at a strange table. He blinked and looked around the room, his eyes moving along the walls lined with bookcase after bookcase of books. He looked back at the two girls sitting laughing at him. He stepped backwards into the room, closing the door before opening it again to the exact same sight. Where the hell was he? He sighed as he suddenly remembered he had been at his brother's friends' party the night before...and stayed over.

"Morning." He grumbled, walking towards the table to a chorus of giggles.

"Afternoon." The midget grinned, still laughing at him. "Sleep well?"

"I did. In fact, I slept too well – you've just told me it's afternoon and I have apparently slept that long I forgot I wasn't at home." He yawned, sitting down on a chair.

"I'll get you your breakfast, Kitty." She cooed, getting up from her chair.

"My ears are still in, aren't they?" He sighed, reaching up to release his hair, finding it had already gone back down. "You're still just laughing at me from last night, aren't you?"

"Nope, and your ears were cute." She replied, twirling back to face them with a plate of what looked like fried food. "I was actually just discussing your boxers with your sister. Nice little black cats on thin green material?"

"The kid bought me them for my birthday last year. Don't laugh at them, they're actually pretty comfy." He grunted, taking the plate of what looked, to him, like someone had thrown a breakfast pack into a pan and hoped for the best.

"And yet you laugh at my dressing gown?" She teased, taking her seat again. "I'm pretty sure they're out of the same range, am I wrong?"

"I wasn't laughing at your dressing gown. I happened to notice a lot through it when you pulled it tight and it's more the fact that you don't wear anything under it." He replied, glaring at her. "And you're probably right – the kid chose them _because_ of the black cats."

"Well, I bet you're not wearing anything under your boxers." She nodded, folding her arms across her small chest.

"That's generally right about any guy." He snorted, picking up a solid bit of bacon. "You subjected my little sister to this?"

"What's wrong with bacon?" She frowned, trying not to blush at her failed attempt at a comeback.

"This isn't bacon...This is a piece of deep-fried leather that would shatter if I hit it." He sighed, dropping it back onto the plate with a clatter. "Got anything you haven't massacred?"

"Jerk..." She mumbled, standing back up from the table to go search her fridge.

"It's fine if you don't – I should probably take the kid home and I don't know how much longer I can stare at your ass without embarrassing myself." He grinned, laughing as she threw a death-glare at him. "Hey, it's a compliment!"

"It's inappropriate and rude!" She snapped, folding her arms across her chest as she turned to glare at him.

"...Kid, go get your things..." He ordered, earning a shy nod from his little sister. He watched her scamper off to the midget's room before getting up from his chair, walking towards the little blunette standing in the doorway of the open fridge. "Your ass is going to get cold." He stated, his expression perfectly serious as he pulled her forward slightly by the shoulder before closing the fridge door. "Look, I ain't good with people...I'm not trying to be a jerk...Let me make it up to you...?" He continued softly, looking down into her large, hazel eyes.

"More brownies?" She frowned, raising an eyebrow at him.

"How about I take you for lunch next Saturday?" He offered, not rising to her challenge.

"Fine. Just don't be a complete jerk, ok?" She sighed, looking down at the floor. "And you might want to go put your trousers back on before you go anywhere." She laughed, shaking her head at his boxers. "I cannot believe they match my dressing gown."

"Yeah, well, I think I _am_ going to go put my trousers on...You have no idea how glad I am that you didn't bend over to look in your fridge." He groaned rubbing his forehead. "I'll be back in a minute and then I'll get out of your hair."

"You haven't got in my hair yet." She smiled, pushing him to make him move towards her bedroom.

"I like the word 'yet'."

...

"Morning..."

" _Morning...? You're a little earlier than usual...?_ "

"Shit, sorry – hope I didn't wake you?" He sighed, silently cursing his younger brother.

" _No...I might have been annoyed if you'd been five minutes earlier or two minutes later._ "

"About to go for your shower?" He asked, already sure of the answer.

" _Uh-huh_."

"Does that mean you're in your dressing gown?" He smirked, waiting for her embarrassed answer.

" _Nope. I'm literally not wearing anything._ "

"Shit..." He gasped, trying to rid himself of the mental image. "Oh, eh, right, em, think you could buzz me up?"

" _I'm assuming so you can rid Lu of your brother's company and not to check that I really am not wearing my dressing gown?_ "

"...Eh...Well...My answer is the first one..." He replied, hoping that the heat would leave his cheeks.

" _You ok?_ "

"Yeah, totally fine." He hummed, cursing himself.

" _You sound a little distracted?_ "

"Just waiting for you to let me in- Let me get in- I mean, buzz me in...I am so sorry...Everything just sounds like really bad innuendo right now..." He sighed, shake his head at himself.

" _You going to bang your head again to trick me into bending you over?_ "

"Oh come on! I did not trick you into bending me over! You jumped to conclusions! And before you say anything, I didn't choose what you were wearing!" He snapped, nodding his head to a random early morning jogger going past. "...And I regret even opening my mouth...Who jogs these days?! Hell, what am I saying? I jog...It's too early..."

" _And when do you jog?_ " The voice snorted.

"Before I go to bed. It used to be in the morning, but I've got the brat pulling this stunt every other day." He sighed, resting his forearm above the speaker and leaning in close, letting his voice go low and quiet. "Come on, just buzz me in so I can get up – we both now that's how this is going."

" _Fine. Just don't expect me to come too, because I am going for my shower._ "

"Oh, I can still make you do that in the shower." He grinned, laughing as the static immediately vanished, the door clicking next to him.


	4. Chapter 4

**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima.**

 **Here's an update for you :) I'm apparently being mean, waiting so long to update ;P I've already decided that this story is gonna be longer than I'd initially considered (partially because I've decided that something is just as interesting - and hopefully as amusing - as the current something), so I could be still updating this in another seven/eight chapters time. I'd originally decided to have a max of eight since I was just writing it for fun. I am actually still writing this for fun, don't worry. :)**

 **Anyway, please enjoy this chapter. Can anyone remember where we left off?**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

"Ok, so you coming?"

" _Give me a minute._ "

"Don't expect too much." He sighed, checking his phone.

" _I wasn't! You know I'm going to start asking you awkward questions, right?_ "

"You realise you could ask me things like 'what is your favourite sex position' and I wouldn't even flinch, right?" He smirked, knowing she was glaring at the speaker.

" _You flinched when you found out I was naked up here a couple of days ago._ "

"That wasn't flinching – that was taking my time to enjoy the mental image." He grinned, fully aware that she would have hit him for that one had she been standing next to him. "What you doing anyway?"

" _You don't need to know._ "

"See, now I definitely need to know." He replied, tugging on the door handle. "Buzz me up."

" _No!_ "

"I'll pull a Natsu?" He smirked, waiting for the answering buzz.

" _Fine_."

He stood there, waiting for the click as the static disappeared. He glanced at his watch, wondering why she was not pressing the button to unlock the door. She had been right next to it a second ago? Were her hands full? No, she would have needed one free to have pressed the button to let them talk to each other. What was she up to? He frowned at the speaker, waiting for the static to reappear. He could feel someone watching him and turned around, finding a young child looking back at him. He nodded to the child, waiting for him to stop staring. He jabbed the buzzer again.

"Look, Midget, let me in already – there's some kid out here staring at me." He started the second that the static reappeared.

" _I thought you were going to 'pull a Natsu'?_ "

"Ah, right, that actually makes sense...We really need to work on this." He mused, glancing back at the child. "Alright, I'm coming up."

" _Don't bother – I'm ready._ "

"Thank you. Seriously. It's one thing doing that sh- that _stuff_ in the middle of the night, but a completely different thing doing that in the middle of the day." He sighed, watching the child just staring at him as a middle aged woman joined him on the step, trying to avoid looking at him. "Afternoon." He nodded to her.

" _Yes, it's afternoon? I'm coming now._ "

"You have brilliant timing, Midget. One of your neighbours is standing right next to me and you've just told me you're coming." He grinned, picturing her crimson face.

" _Gajeel! You know that's not what I meant! Uh! You're impossible!_ "

The static cut out as the woman finally managed to find her key in her handbag. Gajeel kept grinning as he watched her fumbling as she tried to slide the key into the lock, an expression of complete mortification across her face. He was pretty sure it had not occurred to her that anyone so crude could live in her building – and certainly had no idea that someone that looked like him was getting anything from someone in her building. He was not getting anything, but she did not know that. He waved as the midget appeared at the bottom of the stairs looking very red faced as she opened the door, greeting her neighbour who shot in past her.

"I hate you." She grumbled, looking at her shoes.

"No, you don't or you wouldn't have agreed to this." He replied teasingly, nodding to the child again as they walked past him. "Told you there was a kid staring at me."

"Natsu calls you 'Metalface' – I'm sure he's not the only one who's noticed." She sighed, looking at the line of cars. "Which one is yours?"

"None. I walked." He stated, already unsure of how terrible an idea this had been.

"So, where are we going?" She hummed, beginning to walk along the path.

"Kinda decided to go for the lame 'hot dog in the park' thing...It's one thing talking to me through that speaker thing and something completely different being seen outside with me." He replied matter-of-factly, awkwardly falling into step with her.

"Sorry...I wasn't trying to be rude..." She mumbled, rubbing her arm awkwardly.

"You weren't – I've had worse shit thrown at me. Hell, my father throws worse shit at me, but that's more just our sense of humour." He mused, glancing down at her.

"Sorry..." She muttered, looking down at the ground directly in front of her feet as she walked.

"Stop apologising or I'm going home, got it?" He snapped, coming to a complete stop.

"Right...I'll try to...not say anything...you know...about your piercings again." She replied, still avoiding his gaze.

"I think I'm just going to go home." He sighed, cursing himself for even thinking this would have been a good idea.

He was a freak and he knew it. He was actually quite proud of it, but some people apparently felt they had to give him shit for it. He just brushed it off most of the time. Then there were times like this. Times when he tried to be 'normal' with someone and they just started giving him shit for no reason. Of course, the politer ones that had not actually meant to offend his apparently absent feelings tried to 'make it better'. There was nothing worse than someone taking pity on him and being awkward while they tried not to offend him again. Which, of course, they end up doing by pointedly avoiding the 'offending subject'. He did not have to deal with this shit – he had two kids to look after!

"Don't...please? I- I don't do things like this...I was trying to have a laugh with you and I just ended up being a jerk..." She mumbled, playing with the bottom of her long left sleeve awkwardly.

"Fine...and you don't have to avoid the subject of my piercings...I'm just used to people giving me shit and I know plenty of people who'd hate to be seen outside with me. I overreacted." He sighed, beginning to walk again.

"How many do you have?" She asked, a shy note of curiosity in her voice.

"Twenty-nine you can see." He grinned, laughing as her face flushed. "I ain't gonna just tell you about any others."

"Do you have others?" She frowned, narrowing her eyes at him.

"Oh, I think I'll just have to leave you wondering that." He smirked, glancing down at her. "Ok, so, I noticed last weekend that there's only one bedroom at your place, so, I'm going to ask the loaded question...Where the hell are your parents? Oh, and would they seriously be ok with you being seen out here with a freak like me?"

"Em, I was put in there because I'm registered as homeless. I grew up in an orphanage and you have to go somewhere when you turn sixteen. I don't know anything about my parents, so I have no idea about your second question." She replied, smiling back up at him as if he had just asked her about the weather. "Where are yours and how did you end up looking after Wendy and Natsu? And why do you all have different last names? It least, Natsu and Wendy do...I don't actually know your last name...I'm guessing 'Dragneel' is the safer bet considering Natsu is closest to you in age?"

"Let's grab something to eat before we get into that...and maybe something to drink." He sighed, checking his phone.

He felt her eyes on him and he closed it again, smiling down at her before putting his hands in his pockets. He nodded across the street at the entrance to the park, before beginning to cross the road, aware of the sudden awkward silence. Had he caused that by saying they should get food first? He walked into the park, glancing nervously at the midget next to him as she frowned at the ground. What the hell had he done? He tapped her on the shoulder and pointed to the hot dog stand, earning a forced polite smile.

He led her over, quickly ordering a couple of hot dogs and handing her one before handing the vender the money. He zigzagged the mustard and tomato sauce over his hot dog, watching as she attempted to do the same. He grinned and took the mustard off of her, passing her his, before zigzagging her mustard, watching her blush. He did the same with the tomato sauce before grabbing them a couple of spare napkins and leading her away up the side of what probably seemed like a random hill. He grinned as she suddenly burst into a genuine smile as she spotted the weather-beaten bench just over the top, looking over the duck pond at the bottom.

"It's for the kid's mum." He explained, nodding at the plaque.

"I'm sorry...Thank you for bringing me here." She mumbled, lowering herself onto the bench as he collapsed down onto it.

"It's ok...My dad met her mum here. She died seven years ago now...Our dad didn't take it well, but he stuck it out. You can't exactly abandon a five year old girl, you know?" He sighed, biting into his hot dog.

"But it's ok to abandon the three of you now?" She puffed, her obvious annoyance amusing him.

"I like how you appear to have such a terrible opinion of him after I tell you that he dedicated a bench to his wife, placing it where they met, and that he didn't abandon his five year old daughter when her mother died." He smirked, watching as she suddenly became flustered. "It's ok, really – I get pissed at my old man all the time."

"Natsu must have only been ten...I can't imagine it would have been easy on him either..." She mumbled to her hot dog.

"Huh?" He grunted, turning to look at her as he tried to make sense of what she had just said.

"Natsu? He must have only been about ten when she died and you must have been fourteen, so I doubt it was great for you either." She explained, smiling sympathetically at him.

"...Natsu never met her...? I'm talking about _Wendy's_ mum?" Gajeel tried again, waiting for her to explain where she was getting lost.

"Wait...but the three of you are siblings...? Did your dad remarry after your mum had you and Natsu?" She asked, looking extremely confused.

"You're almost right with the last bit. My dad did marry Wendy's mum after Natsu was born...about two or three years after actually? They're both my siblings, but they're not siblings. I'm not sure if they tell people they are, but they definitely act like it at times." He smirked, taking another bite from his hot dog. "Natsu was my mum's kid, not my dad's. I got landed with him two years ago because I was his only living relative. My dad wasn't too happy about it, but he wasn't going to kick him out into the street."

"How come Natsu never met Wendy's mum then?" She frowned, watching him carefully as if she expected him to be pulling her leg.

"Well, I should maybe have started by saying I was the result of a teenage pregnancy? My dad was eighteen and my mum was fifteen...She was sixteen when I was born, but she was still in school, so my dad left school and got a job. Like most high school relationships, things went south and I ended up losing contact with my mum, but considering I was two, you can't really blame me." He mused, finishing his hot dog. "Apparently she met this other guy and got married. They had Natsu and lived happily until two years ago when they ended up in a nasty accident and I find out I have a half-brother who's the kid of a woman I've basically never met."

"Ah, right...I'd forgotten about the accident...No-one ever intentionally brought it up, so we kind of all just forgot about it and started hearing about his older brother." She mumbled, a hint of guilt visible in her hazel eyes. "When Wendy started high school after the summer, he introduced her as his little sister and we never actually thought to question it..."

"Apologise and I go home." He grunted, earning a bubble of laughter from her. "My dad met the kid's mum when I was seven, married her when I was eight. My mum had apparently married when I was four, but I wasn't there. I have what was her maiden name, Natsu has his dad's last name, and the kid has Dad's last name. That is literally the answer to the great mystery of our last names. I'm a teenage pregnancy that neither parent wanted and the other two are the results of my parents actually falling in love with people. It's not even complicated."

"Your dad obviously wanted you, or he wouldn't have left school and kept you." She mused, leaning back against the bench. "Whether he wishes now that he hadn't is another matter!" She teased, grinning up at him.

"Gihe, oh, I think he's regretted that for a while...My sole purpose in his life is to look after his daughter now while he's away off somewhere, working." He sighed, smiling sadly back at her. "I'm lucky if he texts me to tell me he's coming home...Never know where the old bastard is."

"So, he's away right now?" She asked, earning a nod from Gajeel as he waited to find out what her point was. "Is that why you keep checking your phone...?"

"Yeah? The brat tries to hide at his friends' when Dad's home and the kid always jumps into his arms when he gets back...I just sit and wait for the text so that I know when to start going out at night." He mumbled, pulling his phone out to check it again.

"Why do you have to go out?" She smiled, clearly trying to cheer him up a little and it was actually working.

"I had my time with him and I'm twenty-one now, so I let the kid have him – I don't exactly need him anymore." He replied, smiling softly back at her.

"You're still twenty-one...You shouldn't have to be alone in all this." She murmured, laying a hand on his studded forearm, not even flinching as her fingers met with the cold metal that pierced his tanned skin.

"I've got the two of them...and it's not as if he's completely gone. I just don't have a reason to call him." He sighed, leaning towards her slightly, looking back into her eyes.

"What's his ringtone?" She grinned, taking his phone from his hand.

"My phone'll sing 'I could never be what you want me to'...I'm an ass. I shouldn't give him such a hard time, but it seemed appropriate. I feel like he's ashamed of me, but I'm not sure whether that's because I'm both a failure and a freak, or because I remind him of his mistake when he was still just a kid." He smiled sadly, feeling her shift under his gaze, seeming ever so slightly closer.

"I don't think you're a failure? You're raising both Natsu and Wendy pretty much by yourself and you're not even that much older than them...Not many people your age could do that." She murmured, gazing back at him.

"Thanks...It's not often I hear something like that...Well, from anyone who's not Juvia." He smirked, rolling his eyes at the thought of his childhood friend.

"What is Juvia...?" She asked sheepishly, seeming suddenly further away.

"Believe it or not, she is actually human. Think you guys could put up with her more?" He smiled awkwardly, hoping that she would say yes.

"Em, sure...? She was actually trying to get you invited to more things when she was at the Halloween party..." She replied, looking away from him. "And I meant, what is she to you...?"

"Huh? Juvia? Hmmm, just after the kid was born, I tried to run away from home... Kinda felt a little replaced...or at least, a little 'unwanted', you know? Anyway, I managed to find myself stuck in an alleyway in the pouring rain, she took me home and her parents looked after me for a couple of days until they managed to persuade me to tell them who I was...Me and Juvia have been pretty good friends since and her parents said I could come stay with them whenever I needed to." Gajeel explained, smiling at the memory of his closest friend as a little girl out in the rain, trying to drag him to her house. "She's really shy, but that's just because people have been giving her shit for so long that she kinda closed herself off...She's ok with me and Totomaru, but you probably realised she seemed really out of place?"

"I spoke to her a few times and she actually smiled when Natsu ran into Lucy's – he ran straight into a game of twister. Gray was not happy!" She laughed, turning to smile back at him.

"That's better." He smirked, watching as her expression changed to one of confusion.

"What is?" She asked, frowning at him.

"You stopped smiling...I just thought your smile suits you better. It's like the skirt or shorts dilemma – the skirt looks great on you, but your ass is amazing so it seems a shame to not wear the shorts." He grinned, enjoying the sight of her cheeks changing colour. "Especially in the short shorts you call 'pyjamas'!"

"Gajeel!" She pouted cutely, slapping his arm in her embarrassed anger.

"You did tell me the other day that you were naked and only a few days after you slept with my baby sister in really short shorts...You have no idea how much concentration it took to not embarrass myself in front of her. I do have to look after her, so I can't exactly hide from her." He mused, grinning back down at her.

"True...Does he let her know that he's coming home?" She sighed, her smile gone again.

"The kid? Nope. He doesn't even always tell me." He sighed, flicking his phone open again.

"Ok, so you can't be jealous of her – he actually texts you to tell you that he's coming home!" She nodded smugly, swinging her legs under the bench.

"I ain't jealous!" He snorted, folding his arms across his chest defiantly.

"Yeah, you're not jealous at all." She teased, smiling all too innocently.

"I ain't! I have better things to do than get jealous over a twelve year old girl with pigtails!" He snapped, getting up from the bench. "I have to go make dinner for them now for example, Midget! ...I'll walk you home first if you want though?"

"Can you please stop calling me 'Midget'? Just because you're tall, doesn't mean you can go around making fun of people smaller than you." She puffed, folding her arms over her own chest.

"I'm not even that tall. I'm just a couple of inches taller than average and I know quite a few taller people – one of them was at your damn Halloween party and your stupid friends that were _drooling_ over you aren't exactly shorter than me." He returned, glaring down the hill towards the hot dog stand.

"Yeah, well, they don't make fun of me at every chance!" She snapped, standing up so that he wasn't _towering_ over her. "They're sweet and fun, unlike you, you big jerk!"

"How come I'm the jerk?!" He growled, turning to glare down at her this time.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" She huffed, clearly annoyed that he was apparently oblivious to his own shortcomings.

"Why am _I_ the 'jerk'?! What exactly did I do to be a jerk?! I've already apologised and explained I'm awkward – which I don't normally do, funnily enough – and I'm pretty sure I compliment you more than insult you!" He exclaimed, wondering what sort of stupid, childish comeback she would come up with – what else had he expected from a _high school_ girl?!

"You keep on calling me short and making stupid jokes at my expense! And when, exactly, have you complemented me?!" She returned angrily, her vibrant hazel eyes glaring back at his.

"I don't call you short! When have you ever heard me use someone's actual name?! Hell, I don't even know your name!" He snapped, throwing his arms up in the air.

"...You...You don't...even know...my name...? How do you not know my name...? We've been talking for months and I know your name...but you don't know mine...?" She gaped, her cheeks starting to become tinted a cute pink.

"No...? You never told me...and no-one else thought to introduce you...I couldn't exactly just ask you after all this time. I was kinda hoping someone would say it at some point?" He replied sheepishly, feeling his ears begin to burn as he looked away from her cute expression to the faded metal plaque on the bench.

"...But my name is next to my buzzer...?" She frowned, still not looking away from him.

"...I couldn't read it – that's how we ended up in this mess, remember? I can read 'L' and I know there's two letters then a 'y'...That's why I assumed it said 'Lucy'...I've been thinking about it and I can only come up with four names that start with an 'L' and end with a 'y', but since the 'L' is the only tall letter, I figured it couldn't be 'Lily' and I assume it's not 'Lucy', which leaves me with 'Lacy' and 'Levy'...but you don't look like a 'Lacy', but I know I'm already enough of a jerk without getting your name wrong." He sighed, rubbing his neck awkwardly.

"So, want to try calling me by whatever you've decided must be my name?" She suggested, smiling up at him in mildly awkward amusement.

"Sure...? Hey, 'Levy', I kinda enjoyed having lunch with you...Name's Gajeel, by the way." He nodded, trying to maintain eye contact.

"Hello, Gajeel, I did actually enjoy this too and I'm impressed you managed to get my name right without anyone having to tell you." She smiled, earning a toothy grin from him. "I also wouldn't mind taking you up on that offer to walk me home."

"Sure, I think I can manage that." He smirked, turning to head back down the hill, _Levy_ suddenly appearing by his side.

"But when have you actually complemented me?" She mused, looking up at him with her bright, hazel eyes shining with her obvious curiosity.

"You're really asking?" He sighed, earning a nod from her. "Fine, I complemented your eyes and you can't say I never complement your ass."

"When did you complement my eyes? And I thought you were just being a jerk? Were you actually being serious?" She questioned, staring up at him in disbelief.

"Gihe, don't you remember me making a comment about them? I certainly remember your reaction." He grinned, leaning down a little closer to her so that his lips were level with her ear before continuing in a husky whisper. "And who wouldn't complement an ass like yours?"

He jumped back in a fit of laughter as she squeaked, batting out at him. He grinned back at her as they continued towards the gate that lead back onto the street, proud of the crimson blush covering her entire face. He was pretty sure he was winning the competition for gaining the most impressive blush. Well, if he was lucky, she would decided to give him another chance – she certainly seemed to like flirting back and she had said that she had enjoyed their little lunch. Maybe he should invite her over for dinner some time and actually cook for her? Would that be weird? He smirked to himself – he could just invite Blondie too. Nothing strange about Blondie being there for dinner and why couldn't she bring her very helpful neighbour with her?!


	5. Chapter 5

**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

 **I was going to update with this half an hour ago and realised I'd changed the writing style** (just a little bit) **halfway through the chapter...so typically me. I sat and corrected it, so here's the long awaited update! I'm not sure how many of you are still reading this, but please enjoy!**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

"Morning..." He groaned, hoping the door would just click.

"... _You ok?_ "

"I'm too tired...I'm getting too old for this shit..." He grumbled, attempting to pull on the door.

" _You're twenty-one, not seventy-one_."

"I feel one-hundred-and-one." He groaned, collapsing onto the doorframe forehead first.

" _Banging your forehead again? What's wrong this morning?_ "

"Look, Shrimp, just let me in...The kid had me up most of last night after she had a nightmare and I really could have done without the brat pulling this stunt." He sighed into the speaker, closing his eyes.

" _New nickname. Wonderful_." The voice replied, a note of sarcasm through it. " _Come on up – I'll put the kettle on and you can have a coffee while I go get Natsu._ "

"Thanks, but I really should just get the brat home." He mused, a small smile pulling at the corners of his lips.

" _And you just woke me up – you're early this morning and I mean_ _ **really**_ _early. Come in for a coffee and wake yourself up. I think you'll find it's half six, not half seven_."

"Shit! I am so sorry! Fuck! You must be seriously fed up of me doing this by now..." He groaned, cringing as he looked at his watch to find that she was telling the truth.

" _Actually, this is the first time you've woken me up, so I think I can let this one go_." The voice smiled, eliciting a soft smile from him.

"Thanks – I'll try not to be a jerk." He teased friendlily.

The static cut out and the door buzzed, signalling his saviour had granted him entrance. He lazily sauntered along the corridor and jogged up the stairs, finding the little blunette standing waiting on him in her doorway. She smiled sleepily at him, opening the door wider to let him in past her. He smiled apologetically at her, slipping in by her slender form and shuffling over to her table, hot coffee apparently already waiting on him. He grinned down at the black liquid, already knowing from the smell that it was strong – he obviously needed it.

"I didn't know how you took it, but I figured I'd make it strong." She smiled, sitting down opposite him with a mug of her own. "Have you been up this early before?"

"Strong and black sounds pretty good to me." He nodded, taking a gulp of the bitter liquid. "And not since the brat moved in – I used to be up at six every morning for my jog...You don't have to sit up with me, you know. I don't mind if you go back to bed."

"I don't mind... Will Wendy be ok in the house on her own...?" Levy mumbled into her coffee, looking back at him over the rim of her orange mug.

"She's actually asleep in my bed with two cats." He smirked, shaking his head as he remembered the adorable sight that he had left behind.

"Happy and Carla?" She asked, her eyes smiling almost fondly at him.

"No, Lily and Carla. Happy is what woke me... He was crying from the front door – he must have went out the window with the brat and couldn't get back in." He sighed, remembering the awful noise his brother's cat had been making, causing him to worry about the kid getting woken.

"Who's 'Lily'?" She frowned, lowering her mug to the table.

"He's my black Bombay? The brat brought his Russian Blue with him when he moved in and, unfortunately, there's a little competition, but they do actually get on quite well for two tom cats, I guess." He mused, finishing his coffee and searching the bottom of the mug for more that he knew was not there. "The brat's won't leave the kid's white Ragdoll alone."

"Bombay, Russian Blue, and Ragdoll...You have three cats...Are you aiming for 'Crazy Cat Lady'? I guess the long hair will help, but that's the only remotely feminine thing about you." She teased, reaching behind her for the large jar of instant coffee.

"I only have one cat. He's a black Bombay tom cat and I didn't have the brat and his cat to look after when I got him...Dad got a new job and asked me to move back home to look after Wendy...I'd only been away a year and next thing I knew I had two kids and three cats to look after...Lily is the closest I have to an ally in that house..." He sighed, trying to remind himself that he actually liked his life.

"You love it really, or you wouldn't be here trying to make sure that Natsu doesn't get kicked out of school." She smirked, getting up to put the kettle back on.

"Yeah, well, what would I do with him if he didn't go to school?" Gajeel returned, narrowing his eyes challengingly at her.

"He could get a job, or change schools! Isn't there another high school nearby?" She replied thoughtfully, standing with her back to him as she waited for the kettle to boil, giving him a particularly nice view.

"Just 'cause I was working at seventeen doesn't mean he should." He returned, biting his lip slightly as he admired her ass in their usual orange short shorts, glad the kettle was taking so long. "And the other high school isn't exactly _close_. I went to it and it's on the other side of town – I'd be here every day at half six if I was going to get him to school and then get to work on time."

"Why did you go to it if it was so far away?" She hummed as the water began to bubble.

"Honestly? It had a shitty reputation as a violent school and it meant my dad had to go pretty far out of his way to drop me off." He smirked, raising his eyes as she turned around with the kettle.

"I knew you were jealous of Wendy – you just wanted your dad to notice you! You went to a 'bad school' so that he would worry about you and you made him drive so far out so that you could spend some time alone with him!" She exclaimed, grinning knowingly at him.

"Yeah, and that totally worked – the kid was in the car with us since she got dropped off after me. Trust me when I say that there is no such thing as 'alone time' between me and my dad and it's not like he'd bother making any anyway." Gajeel grunted, taking the kettle from her to pour some more hot water into his mug to join the instant coffee granules.

"Maybe you should suggest going out for a drink with him?" She shrugged, dropping down across from him.

"And who'd look after the kid? The brat would end up burning the house down." He snorted, stirring his coffee, staring into its depths as he ignored the building annoyance at his pathetic excuse for a father. "I can't exactly turn round and say to her 'Sorry, Kid, but you need to go to see one of your friends because your big brother wants to go have a drink with Dad', you know?"

"Gajeel, Wendy- We both know that she'd be more than ok with that... She'd be upset if she knew this was how you felt." Levy soothed, gently laying a hand on his wrist, her thumb stroking his forearm almost caressingly.

"Exactly. I ain't going to do that to the kid just because my dad doesn't give a shit about me, got it?" He grunted, narrowing his eyes at her until she nodded her agreement.

"So, I think I'll just go for my shower now." She stated, almost sounding disappointed, but he could not decide what she would be disappointed about – maybe it was not 'disappointment'?

"Sure." He nodded, turning his attention back to his coffee as she got up from her chair. "I'll go get the brat once I finish this." He added, watching her out the corner of his eye as she walked away from him, silently cursing himself as he realised he had messed up once again.

* * *

"Hey."

" _Hey...? Why are you ringing my buzzer...?_ "

"Why wouldn't I?" He sighed, rolling his eyes at the speaker.

" _You don't normally? You really are avoiding her, aren't you? She said she hadn't heard from you in a while and you've been texting me to tell me to get Natsu ready... What happened?_ "

"Nothing happened, I just decided to cut out the 'middle man'." He grunted, leaning back against the door. "You going to bring him down or not?"

" _Nope. You are coming up and you are not getting Natsu until you either speak to Lev or explain to me why you are avoiding her_."

"Blondie, I'm not avoiding her. Send him down now or I'm coming in." He demanded, standing back up and glancing around him for any onlookers.

" _And how do you plan to get in?_ "

"By pulling a Natsu." He smirked, pleased with the silence that followed.

" _Tell me how he's doing it and I'll let you in_."

"He stands on the dumpster outside your living room window and jumps, grabs the windowsill, pushes off the wall with his feet and lands like a cat on the window ledge. Now can I come in?" He sighed, reaching for the door handle.

" _Thank you, Gajeel. Now, please talk to Lev – she's pretty upset, ok?_ "

"I don't know what happened, I really don't... I don't even know what happened last time, but there was something wrong when she left me sitting at her table and I have no idea what. I can't explain and you know I can't just ask her..." He mumbled, refusing to look at the speaker.

" _...I know it was you that made the Victoria sponge cake that Natsu brought me, and I know that you made those brownies for Lev last time, and, yes, I know about you asking her on a date – don't deny that that was what it was. My point is, you're usually pretty good at fixing broken things – just look at your family – and I know it's a hobby of yours. If you want to fix something, you always manage it with extra to spare. Fix things with Lev. She's good for you and we both know that – we all seen the two of you at the Halloween party. Juvia was actually so proud of you... None of us have seen you like that before... She's not even going to try to get in between you and your family. In fact, she'd probably want to be part of your family. Fix it_."

* * *

"...Hey...Shrimp...Hey..."

" _Gajeel...? It's a Saturday? You realise that, right?_ "

"Eh, yeah, I did...Hey..."

" _You said that..._ "

" _What does the jerk want? Just tell him to leave you alone already!_ " A male voice cut through the static.

"Shit, right, you have company and I'm just being a creep, right... I'll just go." He replied, cursing himself repeatedly as the male voice replayed in his head.

" _Wait! Look, what's wrong? Do you need me to buzz you in again? I really should just get you a key_."

"No, no, it's fine... I'll just go." He nodded, trying to keep his voice neutral. He shifted awkwardly as a car pulled up behind him. What neighbour was he going to have to have this conversation in front of?

" _Why did you come over if you didn't want up?_ " Her voice frowned, forcing a small smile to creep onto his lips.

"It's stupid, really – I'll just go and I guess I'll speak to you sometime next week." He stated, suddenly catching himself. "That is, if you don't mind, of course...? You probably want me to just leave you alone already... You clearly have company..."

" _Did...Did you come over...to keep me company? Seriously?! Believe it or not, I do have a life outside of you ringing my buzzer! I am not some toy you can just keep picking up whenever you get bored!_ "

"Look, Shrimp, that really wasn't what-"

" _My name is not 'Shrimp', it's 'Levy', 'Levy McGarden' – if you can't even get that right, just leave._ "

"McGarden...? Huh, well, Levy McGarden, I didn't come over to keep you company. I came to ask you over for dinner. I know that's probably really weird, and you don't have to, but I think I managed to upset you a couple of weeks ago and I don't know what I did...but will you do me the honour of joining me and my half-siblings for dinner tonight?" He asked, trying to sound sure of himself as he silently prayed that he had not just been too forward.

" _...Sure...only if I'm not intruding?_ "

"My sister will be thrilled at the female company and the brat is always happy to have company." He smirked, leaning into the speaker.

" _...What about you?_ "

"What about me?" He frowned, watching the speaker closely.

" _Are you ok with me coming over...?_ "

"...Shr-Levy, I'm the one inviting you – the other two don't even know." He replied, trying not to laugh before a smirk appeared across his lips, a thought crossing his mind. "And you know what, I wouldn't mind having you for dinner – I'll have to make something for the other two though, 'cause I'm not really a big fan of sharing."

" _...What...?_ "

"I wouldn't mind having you coming for dinner. I might even join you, but it might be a good idea waiting for the other two going to bed – apparently I'm not all that quiet and I'm pretty sure you'll voice your enjoyment too." He grinned, picturing her flushed expression.

" _Don't tell me you're seriously planning to go over to that sick bastard's house?!_ "

"Shit! I completely forgot you had company! Gihe!" He burst out, grinning uncontrollably at the sound of the disgust in the male's voice.

" _Gajeel, you'll be getting up before I'm even sitting down at the table_."

"Challenge accepted."

* * *

Gajeel launched the wok as the doorbell rang, startling everyone standing in the kitchen as the heavy metal pan hit the tiles behind the cooker. He felt an icy glare directed at him as he dashed out the kitchen. He ignored Natsu's amused grin as he scurried towards the front door in complete panic. He had forgotten to get Natsu to text her and now she was here! What the hell was he going to do with her?! He could not just kick her out before she got in the front door! Shit!

"Hey, Shrimp, I- Blondie? Shit, you're here too?" He groaned as his eyes were met with the two friends.

"Well if it's female company for Wendy that you want, two girls visiting is better than one, right?" Lucy grinned, a knowing look in her eyes. "What was the bang?" She continued, her little blunette friend standing silently next to her, the girl's eyes looking anywhere but up at Gajeel.

"I was in the kitchen when the doorbell rang...I forgot to get the brat to text to ask if we could reschedule for another day." He sighed, watching Levy nervously.

"Oi! Metalface! Who's at the door?!" Natsu yelled from the kitchen.

"I said to go ask, not yell across the house!"

"Hey, give me a minute and I'll finish my _first job_ before I come to ask!" Natsu shouted to him before yelping.

"He's back?" Lucy sighed and Levy frowned at Lucy in obvious confusion.

"Yeah, the brat'll probably be at yours by morning." Gajeel grunted apologetically. "If he didn't try to be a smartass, Dad wouldn't give him such a hard time."

"Your dad's here?" Levy inquired calmly, her suddenly tensed body giving away her nervousness.

"Yeah, he was here when I got back from yours and I didn't have your number to warn you. I meant to get the brat to text you, but it's been hell here..." He began, earning a giggle from Lucy and a cute puzzled look from the blunette. "Well, I was at yours...so the lunch dishes didn't get done. I walked in the door and got sat down next to Natsu for the lecture..."

"And I'm guessing that that is what Natsu is doing right now? His 'first job' was the dishes that the two of you got yelled at about?" Lucy mused, looking around Gajeel to see if she could find the pink haired idiot.

"Yip, and the kid's drying them. She didn't get yelled at, but she wanted to help." He replied, looking back over his shoulder just as Natsu appeared out of the kitchen. "Hey, Brat, your girlfriend's here!"

Gajeel groaned as he dropped to his knees. He heard a squeak as he clutched his crotch, his vision a brilliant white. He felt someone's hands on his shoulders as his sight began to return to him, the sudden excruciating pain beginning to fade. He growled as he tried to get back to his feet using the doorframe to steady himself. Oh, she was going to get it for that one! Like hell he was going to let the bitch get away with doing that to him!

"I did tell you she'd hit you again if she heard you calling her that." Natsu mumbled quietly from next to him.

"She didn't have to kick me in the damn nuts!" He snarled, finally able to see again, even if he still could not stand straight.

"Gajeel, are you not going to invite these two lovely young ladies in?" His father's voice inquired almost musically, Gajeel picking up on the dark undertone.

"Hi!" Lucy chimed, giving his father a cheerful wave. What the hell was wrong with her?! One minute she was so pissed, she kicked him where no man should ever be kicked, and then she was annoyingly happy?!

"Hello, I'm Levy." The little blunette nodded with a bashful smile as she held her hand out to his father. "Sorry to intrude."

"No problem at all!" His father smiled back, a dark glint in his eyes as he glanced at his son. Oh shit. "It's wonderful to finally meet you – I assume you _are_ the girl my son was just out visiting this afternoon?"

Gajeel paled as her face went a bright crimson. Fuck! His father had figured it out already?! What the hell?! He had not told anyone and Blondie would not have said anything to the brat. There was not anyone to have grassed on him?! He glanced across at Wendy, now apparently standing behind him with a happy grin across her face as she waved at the two girls. The kid would not have knowingly said anything... How the fuck had he found out?! Shit! If he had had a chance with Levy before, he sure as hell would not after dinner with his father! He had to get out of this som-

"Yes, Gajeel was inviting us over for dinner," she began and Gajeel felt his world begin to crumble down around him, "since Natsu's been causing us so much hassle these past few months."

He internally grinned. Turning it on Natsu. He could kiss her right now! Except he would creep her out and then his dad really would have something to give him hell over. "I'm one of Lucy and Natsu's friends from school and I just happen to live next door to Lucy, so I have to listen to all the shouting first thing in the morning when Natsu's sneaked into Lucy's bed again." Gajeel had to pinch himself hard to stop from grinning evilly at his little brother. He did not have to turn around to see the idiot's despairing face. Blondie was grinning from ear to ear as her friend ratted out the brat and he wanted so much to join her. He would get to _see_ the brat's punishment though.

"Natsu, is this true?" His father inquired lightly, turning to Natsu with an icy glare.

"Metalface told me to! He wanted an excuse to talk to Levy! He's been sexually harassing her every morning through the intercom!" Natsu rushed, racing for the stairs in a desperate attempt to escape the two seething adults.

"Natsu, get the fuck back here!" Gajeel snarled, running after the brat.

"Gajeel! Don't you _dare_ use that language in front of your sister!"


	6. Chapter 6

**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

 **Hey! Lookie! Lookie! A weekly update! Can I get a high five for pulling this off?!** *cue shout telling me I don't deserve one for not managing this sooner* **Anyway, hope you enjoy this!**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

"So, Levy, you're in the same year as Natsu and Lucy?" Metalicana queried across the dining table with a smile, glancing across at Gajeel.

"Yes, I'm in quite a few classes with the two of them." She nodded, carefully picking up another forkful of chicken and vegetable stir-fry. "Natsu manages to make even the dullest classes cheerful." She continued, seemingly trying to win his brother a few points.

"He does, does he?" He hummed, seemingly looking down at his own dinner as Natsu visibly tensed. "So, how did you meet my son? I hope what Natsu says about the brat isn't true? If it is, I must apologise."

"Brat?" Levy frowned, glancing across at Gajeel for a moment. He shrugged at her, stabbing at a beansprout. "Well, he had come to pick Natsu up and he misread my handwriting, so he rang the wrong buzzer. He was upset about having had to leave Wendy alone in the house, so he ended up getting irritated with me because he thought 'I' was hiding Natsu. He rang my buzzer the next day to apologise – again – and we've been talking since."

"You left your sister alone in the house?"His father coughed, his jaw tense as he turned his head to glare at Gajeel.

"I didn't want to wake her, so I made sure I was back with the brat before the kid woke up." Gajeel answered, stabbing at his dinner again.

"Well, you should have just ignored him." Metalicana returned. "Maybe he'd learn his lesson when he turned up at school late again and got suspended."

"Expelled." Gajeel grunted, correcting his father.

"What?" Metalicana frowned, looking between Natsu and Gajeel.

"He'd be expelled." Gajeel shrugged, ramming some stir-fry into his mouth unceremoniously. "The Head warned me at his Parents' Evening the other week."

"What do you mean by he'll be expelled? They don't expel you for turning up late for school." Metalicana challenged, turning fully in his chair to face Gajeel.

"Dad, the brat's been pulling this stunt for years. He's already been suspended twice, so next time he'll be expelled." Gajeel sighed, glancing at the two girls sitting awkwardly at the table. "We've got guests, so can we talk about this later?"

"Why'd you let him get suspended twice?!" Metalicana snapped. "I'm away for two months and I come back to find that you've been ignoring the housework, sexually harassing a high school girl, abandoning your little sister, and letting Natsu get suspended?! Twice?!"

"Hey! Not doing the dishes _once_ is _not_ 'ignoring the housework'! And, last I checked, I haven't been damn well sexually harassing anyone! The Shrimp wouldn't be here if I'd seriously spent the last two months sexually harassing her, would she?! And as for leaving the kid to get the damn brat, she's perfectly capable of sleeping quietly at home! Now, Natsu, he's none of your damn business, is he?!" He exclaimed, throwing his chair back from the table as he stood up. "Yes, he's a pain in the damn ass and, yes, he's been pulling this shit for two years – _not_ two months! And, you know what, I don't fucking blame him! He's parents died in some shitty accident that should never have happened and he got landed with me, which means he got landed with you and you give him as much shit as you give me! Hell, you give me shit for leaving the kid for half an hour when you leave her for _months_! _Natsu_ is my responsibility, not the kid! If you didn't have time to look after your own kids, maybe you shouldn't have had them!"

He stormed out the dining room and up the stairs, seething.

...

"We're not normally like that."

" _Hey...I guessed as much. Are you ok?_ "

"Yeah, I'm fine... Sorry, that must have been really shitty for you." He groaned, falling back against the door.

" _I moved to come after you, but Natsu grabbed my arm and Lu shook her head at me... I hope I didn't make things worse?_ "

"No, you actually made things better. For me, anyway." He grinned, remembering the hell that his dad had put Natsu through for sneaking into Lucy's bed. "I doubt Natsu's happy with you though."

" _Well, he shouldn't have been sneaking into Lu's bed_." The voice shrugged.

"True. My dad likes you, by the way." Gajeel added with a smile, leaning against the doorframe.

" _R-Really?_ " The voice squeaked, making Gajeel grin.

"Yeah, he's been teasing me about you all morning." Gajeel explained, his ears burning slightly as he continued to grin. Shit, teasing her this morning was harder than usual.

" _Why was he teasing you about me?_ " The voice mumbled, forcing Gajeel to lean closer to the speaker.

"Because he likes you." Gajeel explained, staying close to the speaker. He waited a moment, wondering why she was not speaking. The static was still there? "He also seen me on his way home from the airport... He was sitting parked outside here for the entire conversation yesterday." He continued, his face burning impossibly hot. "He heard me say that I wanted to- to have you for dinner."

The door buzzed next to him, startling him. He stared at the speaker, the static still present. Gajeel frowned before pushing the door open and making for the stairs as casually as he could. Why had she not said anything? He jogged up the stairs, watching for her door coming into sight. It was shut and he had to knock as he finally reached it. He waited quietly, glancing around him, for her to answer the door. He knocked again.

"Shrimp? You ok?" He grunted, leaning close to the door. What the hell was going on?

He tried the door handle and the door clicked open. He cautiously pushed it, unsure if he should just walk into the little blunette's home. He coughed loudly as he stuck his head around the side of the door to find her leaning on the kitchen table with her back to him. She stood motionless and he quietly closed the door. He awkwardly looked around him before taking a few steps towards her.

"Shrimp? Are yo-"

"He heard all that?" She mumbled and Gajeel finally recognised the crimson flush to her skin.

She was completely mortified.

"Yeah...Well, he heard what I'd said. He couldn't pick up on what you were saying...and he wasn't really pissed at the whole 'sexual harassment' thing since, you know, he'd already found out... Not that I'm trying to sexually harass you, I'm actually just tryin- I'm just gonna shut up." He groaned, smacking his forehead with the palm of his hand. What was he trying to do?! Make things worse?!

"Wh-Why do you, em, talk to me like that?" She asked quietly, still refusing to turn to look at him.

"Why, eh, why wouldn't I?" He coughed, looking away from her.

"Are you just teasing me?" She continued, her voice holding an almost cold tone.

Shit. He tensed, knowing full well that there was a right and wrong answer here. If he said 'yes', she would be pissed with him and kick him out – she would likely never talk to him again. If he said 'no'... Hell, he did not know what she would do, but he would probably have to explain himself and he had no idea what the hell he could say? He watched her back for a moment and stepped forward. It was now or never. He wrapped his arms around her tiny waist, pulling her gently back into him, before nuzzling passed her impossibly soft, blue, wavy hair to her pale neck where he cautiously gave her a careful peck.

"Ga-Gajeel?" She squeaked in surprise, trying to turn around in his arms. He held her against him a few seconds longer before releasing her enough to allow her to turn to look up at him.

"I-I like you." He muttered, avoiding the gaze of her beautiful, hazel eyes.

He felt her arms slip up around his neck and under his hair nervously. He tensed, unsure of what was happening. Did she actually like him and just had not done something 'like this' before? Maybe she thought that he was going to suddenly start laughing at her because he had just been teasing her? Or did she think he expected something back and she felt she had to? Shit, had he just forced her into a position where she thought she had to do something for him?!

"...I like you too..." She mumbled quietly, biting her lip cutely as she avoided his look of surprise. Did she really mean that? Shit, had Blondie been right? Well, the two of them were pretty close, so Shrimp would have told her everything, right? Shit! He did not even know if she was serious or not! What was he supposed t- "I like you too." She said a bit louder, clearly deciding that he might not have heard her right.

"Fuck." He uttered, staring at her completely dumbfounded.

"Em, it mi-might be a li-little earl-"

"Shit, sorry, I did-" He began to babble, cutting himself off to take a breath. "I didn't mean that I was going to, you know, 'fuck you here and now'...I just- I wasn't expecting that. You know, you're this cute, kind, amazing young woman and I'm, well, me."

"What? A sweet, caring guy who looks after his two younger half-siblings and would do anything for them? Including yell at the father he really just wants to like him?" Levy mused, her embarrassment apparently forgotten. "Which he does, by the way. He clearly cares a lot about you."

"Yeah? What makes you say that?" He grunted sarcastically, raising a studded eyebrow at her.

"He apologised for arguing in front of us, then he started talking about you." She explained quietly, looking back up at him. "He was telling us about you leaving school to get an apprenticeship – without him having to tell you to – as a mechanic. That you stepped up the second you found out about Natsu and wouldn't let anyone tell you that you didn't have to because you were still a kid yourself. You learned to cook like a pro so that Natsu and Wendy got everything they needed in their diet..." She continued, bringing a hand back from behind his neck to stroke his cheek, "and that you were the only thing that kept him going when he lost Grandeeney. If it hadn't been for you, he'd never have managed." She finished, her eyes beginning to water as she smiled up at him. "He was so hurt when you'd yelled at him that he shouldn't have had kids because he never had time for them... He knew you weren't really talking about Wendy, Gajeel."

"He knows I don't really hate him... I've never hated him. I just- I get a little frustrated with him at times... Most of our jabs at each other are more to do with our sense of humour – I got his dark sense of humour. I can't figure out why my parents were ever together. My dad and Natsu's dad, from what I've heard, couldn't be any more different." He sighed, leaning into her hand.

"People change." Levy shrugged, shaking her head at him.

"Yeah..." He frowned, looking away from her.

"You shouldn't assume we'll be like your parents." She returned, taking his chin and making him look at her. "Maybe we'll be like Natsu's or Wendy's parents?"

"Great, so either we both die young or one of us dies young and leaves the other in a permanent state of grieving, but, hey, at least we were genuinely in love and not just young and stupid." He snorted sarcastically.

"Gajeel, no-one knows when they'll die." Levy sighed, frowning up at him. "We all just have to make the most of here and now."

"I already said I wasn't gonna fuck you here and now, so don't bother trying to persuade me, gihe." He smirked, pulling back sharply as her entire face flushed once more.

...

"Morning." Gajeel grunted as the little blunette popped her head out of the bathroom door.

"Ga-Gajeel! I-"

"Hi!" Wendy chirped as she slipped past Gajeel into the library-living room.

"H-Hi, Wendy? Give me a minute, I'll be right out!" Levy blushed, quickly pulling her head back into the bathroom.

"I shoved the brat's school uniform through Blondie's door." Gajeel called, wandering up to the fridge. "I've texted Blondie to wake her up."

Gajeel turned as he heard the bathroom door creek open. He felt his cheeks begin to burn as the petit blunette stood awkwardly in her bathroom doorway, adorned by a school uniform. A red tie wrapped neatly around the white collar of her shirt before slipping down inside her navy blazer that pinned tightly around her tiny waist. Gajeel bit the inside of his lip as he noticed the navy-and-red tartan plaited skirt stopped halfway down her thighs, leaving more than enough milky white flesh on show.

"Y-You're not going anywhere like that!" He snapped, quickly grabbing Wendy to cover her eyes with his hand.

"Wendy's wearing the same uniform!" Levy returned, her face flushed as she pulled at the hem of her skirt in embarrassment, trying desperately to make it sit lower.

"A-Are you?!" He stammered, suddenly spinning Wendy around to look at her. "That's not the same uniform! Her skirt reaches her knees!" He argued, suddenly spinning Wendy back around to look at Levy. "See!?"

"And it had to be sewn so that it would stay up." Levy frowned, finally deciding to just give up on making her skirt longer. "She was so embarrassed at constantly having to pull it up on her first day of high school that a teacher told her to put her P.E. kit on! Mira sewed it for her during her lunch break!"

"Well at least it isn't as revealing as yours!" Gajeel snapped, releasing Wendy to fold his arms across his chest.

"What are the two of you arguing about?" Lucy yawned as she sleepily walked in through the front door. "Is Gajeel abusing that key you gave him the other day?"

"No... He just objects to my skirt." Levy pouted, turning to her friend for help.

"That's just because he likes you in it and he doesn't want other guys looking at you." Lucy sighed, attempting to give Gajeel a knowing look as she yawned.

"Of course I object to the skirt! Look at it! It's halfway up her ass! What if some paedophile tries to pick her up?!" He returned, trying to ignore the burning sensation pulsing through his ears uncontrollably.

"Lev, can I use your bathroom? Natsu's in mine and he won't come out." Lucy explained with a shrug, apparently ignoring his question. How the hell could she not be worried about her friend?! The midget was easily small enough to just lift off the street! "Says the twenty-one year old guy – who has a birthday in less than a month – that's got a girlfriend in high school." Lucy finished with a grin before suddenly shutting the bathroom door behind her.

"Lu!" Levy exclaimed, trying to pull the door back open desperately.

Gajeel turned back to the fridge, his body tense. She was right. He was the damn creep who was going out with a high school girl. He knew he himself would smash in the skull of any twenty-one year old guy that came near Wendy, had she been seventeen. He would do it now, too, while she still was only twelve, but what right would he have to feel that way when she turned seventeen? The guy would be no different to him at this very moment. Shit. He snatched at the fridge door, yanking it open.

"I brought eggs," he began, trying to keep his voice level, "you got anything?"

"Cereal?" Levy mumbled quietly from where she must still be standing by the bathroom door.

"You literally just have cereal?" He sighed, closing the fridge. He started opening the cupboards at his head height, becoming increasingly irritated as he found them empty. "What do you actually eat?! No wonder you're so tiny!"

"I can't reach those cupboards, so of course I don't use them!" Levy snapped from somewhere behind him and he narrowly avoided a cushion. Had that been from the couch? Or had she actually just went to her room for ammunition?! "My food's all in the bottom cupboards..." She mumbled and he easily imagined her cute little pout as she stood there in her school uniform.

"Ah," he nodded, opening a bottom cupboard to find the cereal...and pasta...and rice. He turned back to the fridge, opening it once more. He grinned as its contents finally made sense. One pint of milk, two jars of pasta sauce, three tins of beans, and a tin of peas, "interesting diet you here there, Shrimp. I'd make us all omelettes, but I don't have enough eggs and we've not got anything to have on them..."

"What about that thing you made the other day?" Wendy chimed, suddenly appearing by his side.

"What thing?" He frowned, trying to run through the meals he had cooked over the last week.

"The omelette thing!" She giggled, pointing to the eggs.

"The thing I made for lunch last Sunday? I don't have chicken, mushrooms, onions, or tomato sauce." He returned, resisting the urge to sigh. "It's kind of hard to ma- Hang on..." He stared into the fridge for a moment before picking up a tin of beans. "Fine, I'll try making a 'breakfast' version. A tin of beans to replace the accompaniments to the rice okay?"

He laughed as his baby sister beamed up at him, her huge brown eyes sparkling with excitement. He grabbed the rice out of the cupboard, found himself a medium sized sauce pan, and then headed over to the sink to rinse the rice, Wendy watching his every movement. He put the pan of rice on the cooker, turning the ring up to a medium heat, before grabbing the frying pan to cook up a very thin omelette each.

Fifteen minutes later, he found himself grinning down at the four high schoolers eagerly wolfing down his food. He stood at the end of the table to eat his breakfast, only to find himself shifting uncomfortably as he felt a set of eyes watching him. He glanced up from his omurice and smiled awkwardly to his seventeen year old girlfriend. A light blush appeared on her cheeks as she looked away, fidgeting in her chair. He frowned, watching her as her blush began to darken under his stare. Was she thinking the same as him? Was she wondering why the hell he was going out with her? Thinking that he was just some perverted creep? Regretting getting involved with him?

"Gajeel?" Blondie's voice called, startling him. "If you keep staring at Lev like that, she's going to burn out before she even gets to school, never mind manage six hard classes."

"Shi- Sorry." He coughed, looking away from a crimson Levy with a blush of his own. What the hell had he been thinking?! Staring at her like that!? Was he trying to prove that he was some sort of perverted creep?! "We should probably leave or you'll all be late." He added, shoving the remains of his breakfast into his mouth.

Levy suddenly rose to her feet, gaining everyone's attention, before rushing off to her bedroom. He looked at Blondie and she grinned back at him, a knowing glint in her damn eyes. The brat looked oblivious as he grabbed his bag off of the floor and flung it over his shoulder. Wendy hopped down from her chair and picked her backpack up. Gajeel snatched it gently from her hands and stuck the short-set strap around his forearm, refusing to look at either his sister or Blondie. He started herding them awkwardly towards the door just as his midget of a girlfriend reappeared in a pair of tights and shiny black pumps.

"Better." He mumbled, looking away from her with a slight blush.

Now she looked too damn innocent though! Hell, she looked like she could be in the same year as his sister now! Shit, should he have let her go to school with all that exposed skin, making her seem a little closer to her actual age?! She picked up her satchel, placing the strap over her shoulder. He coughed quietly, holding his hand out expectantly. Like hell he was going to let his girlfriend carry her own bag – he was a man! She reluctantly passed him her bag, his hand suddenly shooting towards the floor as she released it. He snapped the bag back up before it collided with the floor and looked at her, his eyes wide. What the fuck did she have in the damn thing?!

"Books." She offered awkwardly as she shuffled passed him.

"Isn't it nice of your _boyfriend_ to cook us breakfast and give us a lift to school, Lev?" Blondie grinned coyly back at the little blunette. "You wouldn't think the two of you had only been together a week and a half!"


	7. Chapter 7

**AN: FAIRY TAIL BELONGS TO HIRO MASHIMA!**

 **Hey, my two days off last week were kinda busy...** My boss had unintentionally given me both my mother's and my birthdays off. It was actually quite funny - on Saturday, about half way through my shift, my boss suddenly went "was it your birthday the other day?" and my answer was one of confusion (I'd been given a birthday present "from everyone"), "yeah? It was yesterday." He made a face that basically said 'huh, ok' and wished me many happy returns. I did thank him! XD **Thanks for all the brilliant reviews and comments on the reblogs (and the tags!** Yes, I'm one of those people who go read the tags **) - honestly makes my day!**

 **Anyway! Please enjoy this chapter! I only have one more written for this after this one though... I know what I want to write, but it's deciding how to approach it...** (I'm not sure whether to write the 'event' or have a short time skip to just after the 'event', since the 'event' would only be short and I don't know if my personal experience is good enough to write enough emotion into it... There's also the part where it wouldn't have much interaction with anyone, which kinda defies the layout of the previous eight chapters... It's lots of little interactions in this story, so...?)

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

He had to find an excuse.

There had to be a sensible excuse somewhere, anywhere, in his useless head for him to give to her. They had been to see a movie, like any other couple, after he had cooked a nice meal for her here. And now they were back here. And he had come in for coffee, like an idiot. Now he was stuck staring at his empty mug as his girlfriend chatted away as if nothing was wrong. And he could not think of an acceptable excuse to give her.

The truth would just make her think he wanted to break up.

"Gajeel?" Her voice called, causing his frown to deepen. "Gajeel...are you ok?"

"Huh? Eh, fine..." He nodded, suddenly aware that he could not remember a single word she had said to him since he had finished his coffee. Well, shit. "It's just, eh, you know..."

"What?" She frowned cutely. One of these days he was actually going to kiss that damn frown of hers and make it go away. So damn cute...

"I'm just worried about my sister... I'm not used to leaving her." He offered, trying to seem bashful.

"Oh...sorry..." She mumbled, looking away from him. Shit! No! No, this was not going to happen again. He would not let it happen again! "If you need to-"

"It's fine, really. She's got her friends and Erza will call me if anything happens." He soothed, reaching across to ruffle her. He stopped mid-ruffle. She frowned at him again and he attempted to pull his hand away casually. It did not matter if he did that to his sister, he could do that to his cute girlfriend too. "Your hair's really soft." He shrugged, hoping she would accept his lame answer to her unspoken question.

"I know, but thank you..." She mumbled, half-pouting before her eyes came back up to meet his. "We could always go join them?" Levy offered, her frown becoming a cheerful smile. Shit, he just didn't know what to do. "Just if you want to, of course." She added, blushing slightly as she looked away from him.

Maybe he should just kiss her? It was December and Christmas soon, so they'd been together a while? No, he wasn't ready to go there. She was just a kid. He shouldn't even be dating her, never mind pulling shit like kissing her. He wanted to, but how the fuck would he feel if some guy kissed the kid when she got to the shrimp's age? Fuck! He should just fucking end things with her! Let her date someone her own age, rather than some freak four years older than her! Two years ago, she would have only been fifteen and he'd have been almost twenty! He was just some pathetic, sick bastard-

"Gajeel?" His girlfriend called, her frown back. "Are you alright? You've seemed a little... a little quiet lately."

"I'm fine, really." He nodded, smirking at her. "Just trying to decide what to do with you now that I've got you all to myself." He chuckled as her face turned a cute cherry red as her eyes darted around the room, desperate to avoid him.

He couldn't kiss her.

How was he supposed to kiss her when she reacted like that to something that could be completely innocent and wore a stupid school uniform?! Hell, she didn't even have to be wearing it for him to constantly see her in it. He really was just some sick bastard. He sighed and got up from his barstool, leaving his empty coffee mug behind on the kitchen counter. He should just make this easy on both of them.

"So-"

"Oh, I almost forgot!" She burst out, cutting him off instantly. What could she need to say to him? If she was inviting him to her Christmas Dance, he wasn't going. "I got a job!"

"A job?" His turn to frown. "What do you need a job for?"

"Well, I'm almost finished high school and it's not as if the system will keep supporting me as much as they are now." She sighed, rubbing her arm awkwardly. "It's not much – not anything like yours – it's just a couple of hours at the weekend..."

"So you won't be coming over for lunch next Saturday?" He replied, his body tensing slightly. Could he really be that lucky?

"No, but I could come during the week? Your dad's back tomorrow, so it'll be nice to see him before he leaves again." She offered, her voice filled with enthusiasm.

"He's only back for a couple of days this time, so I think he'll want it to be just family." He grunted, his gut clenching as she tried not to show her disappointment. "I'll ask him when I see him though." He added, her expression brightening a little. "I should probably go get the house cleaned up a bit – you know what he's like."

"Hm, yeah..." She agreed, avoiding his gaze as she moved to get up from her stool.

"Don't bother, I'll see myself out." He smiled awkwardly, turning to hurry for the door.

* * *

"Hey, Metalface, what's wrong?"

"Shut the fuck up." He grunted, wishing his half brother would just go to bed already. Why was the brat still so full of energy?! He'd been hanging out with his friends all evening, so he should be fucking tired, right?! "Just go to bed already."

"Luce keeps asking why you're being weird with Levy." He replied, dropping down next to him. "Levy text her the second you left – she thinks you want to break up with her." He continued, snatching a fistful of popcorn from Gajeel's bowl. Gajeel could feel Natsu's frown as he sat silently staring at the tv. "Do you?" He gaped, suddenly rounding on Gajeel and knocking the bowl to the floor.

"For fuck's sake! What the hell is wrong with you?! You just wasted half a bowl of fucking popcorn!" Gajeel snapped, throwing the cherry-blossom haired teen to the floor. "Pick that lot up and go to your damn bed!"

"Stop avoiding the subject! What's wrong with Levy?! I thought you liked her?!" Natsu interrogated, jumping to his feet.

"It's none of your damn business!" Gajeel growled, grabbing the bowl and launching it at Natsu's head. He snarled as the teen dodged it, letting it hit his father's wedding photo. "Now look what you've done!"

"That was your fault! You threw the bowl!" Natsu argued, kicking out at Gajeel. "Just tell me why you want to break up with Levy!? Luce won't stop texting until I tell her what's going on with you!"

"You should be happy then – your girlfriend is actually texting you!" Gajeel snorted, carefully picking up the photo frame to check the glass.

"She's not my girlfriend." Natsu huffed, crouching down to start picking up the popcorn. "You really need to stop making that joke."

"You like her, so I ain't gonna stop." Gajeel sighed, placing the photo back in its place. "Why don't you just ask her out already?"

"You know why..." Natsu mumbled, keeping his back to Gajeel. "She doesn't think of me like that."

"She knows how you get into her flat." Gajeel stated. He didn't need to know long she'd known, but the brat deserved to know that his case wasn't as hopeless as he thought it was. It wasn't like his case where he was just some pathetic scumbag. "She hasn't done anything about it, so she obviously wants you there, even if she's not ready to admit it."

"Wh-"

"I ain't got a reason to lie." He grunted, cutting his brother off. "As for the shrimp... Maybe I'm the same as your Luce. I got too many problems getting in the way."

"Like us?" A small voice mumbled from the doorway.

"Shi- No! No, your not a problem, Kid! What you still doing up?" He rushed, panicking as he wondered how much his baby sister had heard.

"I thought the two of you were arguing again..." She answered, shifting bashfully. "Is it about you being awkward with Levy?"

"Hu- Wha- How- You noticed?!" He gaped. Just how fucking obvious had he been?! The kid was twelve and even she had noticed! His hand slid tightly down his face as her little head nodded. Well, fuck. "I'm just a little uncomfortable with some things..." He offered, hoping she would just accept it.

"Like what?" She frowned, her head tilting slightly to one side. "Don't you still like her?"

"Of course I d-"

"It's because she's still in school, isn't it?" Natsu cut in, his expression perfectly serious. "You've been like this since that first day you took us all to school. She's got a job now, you know? She's pretty grown up."

"Fu- Leave me alone." He sighed, moving to leave the room. "Right, Kid, back to bed."

"You don't love her anymore because she's in school?" Wendy frowned, clutching Carla tighter, much to the cat's frustration.

"Love's a strong word, Kid." He answered, gently pushing her out of the doorway with a hand on her shoulder. "I'm twenty-two in a week and she's seventeen and in school, so, yeah, I'm feeling a bit weird about it. I'm not going to discuss this with you any further – it's a grown-up conversation."

"I'm in high school too." She mumbled into Carla's soft, white fur. He paused in his scooting, watching her for a moment. She was, was she not?

"Fine. You're twelve and if someone five years older than you came near you, I'd beat him to death – it's the same principle, just Shrimp doesn't have an older brother to beat me up." He explained begrudgingly. Hopefully she would be able to understand this from his perspective a bit now.

"Natsu's friends come near me all the time? They're five years older than me." She puzzled, turning fully to look up at him.

"As friends, Kid. If they're coming near you as a boyfriend, you'd better tell me." He grunted, unsure whether to laugh or punch the wall at the mere idea of one of Natsu's friends flirting with his little sister.

"It's ok, Metalface, I ain't gonna let them." Natsu smirked, slapping him square on the back. "And there's a difference between you going out with Levy and Gray going out with Wendy. Not just because both of you are legal." He finished, narrowly avoiding Gajeel's fist as he dashed for the stairs.

* * *

'Did you really compare you going out with me to Gray going out with Wendy?'

Well, shit. The brat really had reported in. How the fuck was he going to get out of this one?

"Hey, Brat, no phones at the table."

"It's the shrimp." He returned, glancing at his father.

"Well, she could have been here, but she chose not to be, therefore that argument is invalid." His father countered, tearing into his chicken thigh.

"Gajeel told her not come." Natsu butted in and Gajeel glared coldly at him. Why the fuck did he have to tell him that?!

"Is she no longer welcome here?" His father asked calmly as he lowered the already chicken-less bone, his attention seemingly dropping to his moussaka.

"Of course she is." Gajeel mumbled, his hand gripping his fork tighter. What the fuck was the old man thinking?

"Then why is my son's lovely young girlfriend not here? Am I not allowed to see her when I visit, after the relationship has already passed the meeting of the parents stage?" His father continued, his voice steady, suspiciously calm. "Are you concerned that I'm going to embarrass you?" He asked quietly, his eyes still fixed on the motion of his knife slicing through the layours of potato and aubergine. "Or have you got some unreasonable excuse for her not being here?" He finished, his icy gaze snapping up to fix him in place.

It wasn't going to work.

"What the fu- What do you mean 'unreasonable'?! You don't know anything – you're never here – so I ain't having you giving me sh- unnecessary, unneeded, and completely _unwanted_ commentary on my relationships." Gajeel snarled, shoving his chair back to tower over the table.

He clenched his jaw as he saw the hurt flash through his father's eyes. He had said what he knew he needed to to hurt his old man, but that was too far. It was not as if his father had much of a choice. He was a god damn single parent with a fucking mortgage and bills to pay to keep a roof over their heads... and he had just thrown it all back at him. He tried to ignore the wide-eyed expression of his sister, the tears welling as her beautiful brown eyes began to redden. He should not have said that. He really should not have said that.

"Lashing out because you're angry with yourself again, Gajeel," his father sighed, shaking his head, his eyes closed, "doesn't solve anything. Your problems are still going to be there."

"With how my life's going, my problems will probably just walk off or die without me doing anything, so don't worry." Gajeel snorted, removing his hands from the tabletop to fold his arms in front of his chest. Well, shit. His father's jaw tensed as he rubbed his chest with the heel of his palm. Shit, that was too far.

"So you're pushing little Levy away in case she walks away?" His father asked quietly, looking tired as he sat back in his chair. Gajeel shifted slightly where he stood, uncomfortable. When had his father become so old? It seemed only yesterday that he had gotten married and started another family, but now? He had never seemed to loo- "Well?"

"No." He stated, clenching his jaw tighter. Why can he not just say something _nice_ to his father, just once? Why did he have to start spouting constant shit every time he tried to speak to his old man?! It was pathetic! He-

"Why is she not here, Gajeel?" His father pushed gently, raising from his chair slowly.

"Maybe I didn't want her here? You ever thought of that?!" He snapped, turning away from the table.

"Go to your room." His father sighed and Gajeel could see the disappointment in his eyes without having to look into them.

"I was going anyway."

* * *

A quiet knock at his door had him wondering what his sister wanted. Maybe she had come to tell him off for saying hurtful things to their father again? He deserved a lecture from his baby sister for it – it was probably his fault their father never wanted to be here. Why did he have to be so constantly unnecessarily angry with their old man?! It was not as if he did not try! Another knock sounded at the door.

"Just come in." He grumbled into his pillow as he continued to lie where he had belly flopped onto the bed. "Sorry, Kid, you know I didn't mean that shi- stuff I said to dad... I never do. Fu- I don't even know why I say it... You always get to be so happy around him and I seem to end up in the same da- same arguments with him. Yeah, I know you're gonna say that he knows that I'm trying to hold us all together, but it just feels like he resents me for being such a disappointment. And don't try to tell me I'm not, Kid, I know I a-" Hang on. "Kid? You've normally tried to talk over the top of me with some sort of cute reasoning by now? Sh- Eh, how bad have I fu- messed up this time? You're not here to knife me for driving him away again, are you?" He half-grinned as he felt her sit on the bed, turning over to look at her.

Shit.

Fucking _shit_.

"You are not a disappointment." His father whispered, reaching his free hand out to him as he leaned on the other one, standing over the bed. He could see the hurt and understanding swirling around his pale, tired eyes. "So you were worried we'd end up in another argument and she'd see it?" He asked, changing the subject with a small quirk to his lips. "I don't try to start them, you know." Maybe he hadn't changed it.

"Fuck off." Gajeel mumbled, planting his face back into his pillow.

"Want to get a drink?" His father offered, finally sitting on the bed – if the movement on the mattress was anything to go by.

"I told you to fuck off." He grunted into the pillow. Why did it have to be his father?! That was completely mortifying!

"Well, I want to go for a drink, but I want to take my grown-up son who I've never had a drink with." His father continued, his amusement clearly growing, even as his voice held a note of seriousness in it. "I haven't had a drink since you made me see sense. I lost two days...two days I can't get back. You started looking after us then and you never stopped. I was always considered this wise, intelligent person, even if I wasn't the outstanding citizen Igneel and the others wanted me to be. When I lost Grandeeney, you made me go on... You reminded me that I had a reason to...and that reason was you and your sister. I couldn't give up. I had to make a happy, unwanting life for the two of you...and, together, we managed that for your sister...but you're not the failure, Gajeel. You woke me up from my grief and I didn't manage to-"

"This isn't you." Gajeel muttered, fighting to keep the growl out of his voice.

"Neither of us are exactly sappy, but sometimes you need to let the people around you know how you really feel... You get all mushy with your sister, why not be like that with Levy?" His father shrugged. "Or is that the problem?" Gajeel could hear the frown in his voice. Damn. "She's still in school and you're stuck on the idea of her being a 'kid' like your sister." Well, fuck. This just couldn't get any worse, could it? "Have you tried to make a move yet? I bet she could prove she's not if yo-"

"Shut up." Gajeel snapped, kneeing his father's hip. "I've flirted plenty with her."

"Since you saw her in a school uniform?" His father chuckled, placing the point of his elbow onto the side of Gajeel's calf and leaning heavily on it. Gajeel snapped his leg back, snorting at the shockwave that rippled through his bed at his father's muscular frame landing on it.

"What's tha- Yeah, I have." He answered. He'd seen her getting off the bus months ago! ...And how was that any different? He was a fucking idiot.

"Really? Because I can tell you now, just because you wear a school uniform does not mean you're a child. Some of those 'children' are more mature than the adults and, no, I don't mean _sexually_." He laughed, resting his head on Gajeel's back. "Some of them are very experienced by her age, mind. Hell, some of the things girls her age get up to could qualify them fo-"

"I _don't_ want to know." Gajeel snapped, cutting his dad off as he pulled the top pillow from under his head to hold it down over it, hoping to block out his old man's voice.

"And I can safely say one thing – if I was fifteen years younger, you'd have some serious competition on your hands." He could see the shit-eating grin on his dad's face without having to look. "In fact, I'm not that old, maybe she's one of those girls that don't care about age?"

Gajeel sat bolt upright, throwing the pillow at his father who was now firmly on the floor.

"Fuck off! I mean it! Don't yo-" He began to snarl, only to be cut off by his dad's bellowing laughter.

"Your face! That was priceless! That's my boy!" He guffawed, clutching his stomach as he tried to calm his own laughter. "I haven't laughter like that in years." He grinned, wiping a stray tear from his right eye. "Just call her. Apologise for being a useless little shit, go over there and damn well kiss your girlfriend, brat!" He grinned, sitting up on Gajeel's bedroom floor.

"Get out my room." Gajeel frowned, glaring at his damn father sitting perfectly comfortably in the middle of his bedroom floor.

"Make the most of being young and, Gajeel," his dad began again, "just because you're my son doesn't mean you're gonna make the same mistakes. To be honest, your mother was never a mistake and I'm not just saying that because without her, I'd never have had this amazing son that tries to hold the world on his shoulders, but because at the time, we were in love. You can fall in love without it working out in the end. It doesn't mean it was never love, just that it wasn't meant to be."

"Fuck off."


	8. Chapter 8

**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

 **I AM SO SORRY! I honestly thought I'd posted this _months_ ago... Hope you enjoy it...? ** (It's the next chapter I've been stuck one... Honestly thought I'd posted this one...)

* * *

 **Chapter Eight**

" _Hello_?" The familiar voice called through the static.

"Hey, Levy, can I come up?" He coughed, glancing around at the dark streets nervously. Hopefully no-one reported a suspicious looking man hanging around late at night.

" _Have you lost your key? My landlord will kick me out if he finds out I gave someone else a key and they've lost it!_ "

"No, no! I haven't lost it! I just- I just need to come up and I guess I wanted to ask you first... I'll explain in a minute...if you'll let me up, of course."

" _You know I have no problem with you getting up._ " The voice smiled, followed by a sudden squeak.

"Yeah, I was wondering where that came from too, Shrimp." Gajeel grinned at the intercom. "It's been a while since either of us has come up with shit like that."

" _Yeah, it has... Is that_ -"

"Just let me in." He smiled, his voice surprisingly gentle. The door buzzed next to him, the static still present. "I ain't gonna hurt you tonight, honest...but I can't promise that we'll work out in the long run." The static cut out and he slipped in through the door.

He quietly made his way up the stairs, hoping Blondie did not notice he was here. He did not need anyone eavesdropping on their conversation through the walls. He leant against his girlfriend's door, keeping his voice a gentle mumble as he called her name through it. If he knocked, Blondie would be straight to her door, probably to give him shit for hurting the shrimp. He did not need that, especially when he was here to fix things. The door opened and he stumbled in.

His face flushed with heat as he took in his position, the door wide to the outside world. His hands were on either side of Levy as she pressed herself against the wall perpendicular to the one that held the door, a startled expression across her face. Well, she was as cute as ever. He coughed and removed his left hand from the wall, still leaning over her with his right hand pressed against the wall as he pushed the door closed with a gentle shove. She blinked those large, hazel eyes repeatedly, unwittingly batting her eyelashes at him. She would not do it intentionally, not when she had moments before seemed convinced he was here to break up with her. She would not use 'feminine charm' against him.

"Not quite what I had planned." He murmured, keeping his voice low as he remained painfully aware that Blondie's living room was on the other side of the damn wall. He frowned slightly as her bottom lip was pulled slightly into her mouth. Was she biting her lip? She really was. Well, shit, maybe she was not quite as opposed to using feminine charm against him as he thought? "What are you thinking right now?" He asked, his frown deepening. He watched a tendril of her wavy blue hair flutter gently. Shit. She was not the one piling on the sexual suggestions, it was him. He stepped back, moving quickly towards the couch.

"I- I was just wondering what brought you here so late at night." She coughed quietly, her face looking a little flushed in the lamplight.

"Fell out with my dad." He replied awkwardly. How the fuck had he planned to start this conversation again?

"Oh."

Did she just sound disappointed? What the hel-

"Not why I'm here!" He rushed, internally cursing himself. He could have worded that better. "Well, it is, partly... We fell out because you weren't at dinner...?"

"Was I supposed to be?" She frowned, her head tilting slightly as she sat down next to him. "I thought he had wanted it to be just the four of you?"

"Not exactly..." He mumbled, looking away from her. Breathe, just breathe and explain...no matter how shitty a boyfriend his reasons made him. "I hadn't wanted you there...? I-"

"You didn't want me there?" She asked quietly, her gaze dropping to her chest. "You could have just told me that. I know you don't get to see him much, so I would have understood if you had told me you wanted to spend some time as a family without me. You didn't have to lie to me."

"I know, but- but that's not what it was about..." He tried to continue, trying desperately to think of the right words.

"So you do want to break up with me? Lu tried to tell me you didn't, but it was getting harder to believe it... Especially when you just walked out last night and tonight- tonight you..." She whispered, her tiny hands gripping her arms. He reached out to take her hands and she pulled away. "Don't."

"Shrimp, I'm not here to break up with you... and I don't want to break up with you." He began again, clenching his fists as he rested them on his knees. How had he managed to fuck up so badly?! "Levy, I'm crazy about you and that scares me, you know that. I question everything good in my life, including my own thoughts and feelings. I've been calling myself a disgusting, dirty old man since that first day I gave you a lift to school... feeling like, had you been my sister, I'd have smashed the guy's face in for even daring to be her boyfriend when he was so much older."

"So you think I'm just a kid?" She mumbled, her voice surprisingly dark. Had he just imagined that?

"No, I'm just being an idiot. Wondering why the fuck someone as amazing as you is even giving me the time of day...wondering if this is really my chance to step up and be happy, or if this is just another load of shit life has decided to throw in my face." He smiled sadly, unclenching his fists to reach for her again.

"So I'm a 'load of _shit'_? Good to know." She replied, a definite bitter tone in place.

"No! No, I didn't mean that! Not like that! I meant, I couldn't handle this not working because I'm crazy about you and I'm just really shit with words! Give me five minutes and I'll write a damn song!" He snarled, smacking his palm against his forehead. "I didn't mean to-"

"A song?" She snorted, her expression caught between amusement and trying to hold onto her hurt.

"Yeah?" He frowned, watching her. Was she laughing at him for enjoying writing his own songs?

"You write songs? Sorry, that was just a little unexpected in the middle of an argument...? You never told me." She replied, her expression kind of sheepish as she blushed up at him. "You'd really write a song?"

"Yeah? I'll do it now, if you want?" He replied, shifting slightly in his seat.

"O-Ok." She squeaked, her face darkening by a few shades of red. She was probably the same colour as his eyes by now, had the main light been on.

"Fine." He nodded. Right, now to start singing the first thing that came to mind... Right...

" ** _My life hasn't been carefree,  
Hardships are pretty unending,  
I'm all messed up inside me,  
I need to do a lot of mending._**

 ** _I don't always say what I mean,  
But you bring out the best in me,  
You're my rush of caffeine,  
Awakening me so I can truly see._**

 ** _My dad was never there,  
But you showed me he still cared,  
You've made this weight easier to bear,  
With our problems finally aired._**

 ** _I don't always say what I mean,  
But you bring out the best in me,  
You're my rush of caffeine,  
Awakening me so I can truly see._**

 ** _I thought I was impossible to save,  
But yet you are still trying,  
Your love I have come to crave,  
These feelings are terrifying._**

 ** _I don't always say what I mean,  
But you bring out the best in me,  
You're my rush of caffeine,  
Awakening me so I can truly see._**

 ** _My words still stumble,  
My thoughts still jumble,  
But you bring out the best in me,  
Awakening me so I can truly see."_**

He cracked an eye open. Not his best song, and it lacked music, but hopefully that worked better than his words had. He frowned. What was that expression on her face? Was she laughing? Was she horrified? Was she happy? Impressed? Or maybe that was disgust? Was she still trying to be angry and not managing it? Or was she so pissed off she was trying to think of a polite way to kick him out of her house? Yeah, it had to be the last one.

"Maybe I should just go?" He mumbled, moving to stand. Her hand gripped his forearm, stopping him. "Ar-"

"That was sweet. Not the best song in the world, but you've got a pretty good voice on you..." She answered sheepishly. "Do you want some actual caffeine?"

"Actual caffeine?" He frowned. Was she offering him some coffee? Or was she referring to her being his caffeine and the fact- No, she wouldn't be, would she? "Are you offering me a coffee or a kiss?"

"Coffee!" She squeaked, her hands suddenly on her cheeks. How bright were they burning? How hot were they to touch?

He reached up to take her hands in one of his, his free hand coming up to cup her burning cheek. They really were scorching hot. Was she really that embarrassed at the idea of kissing him? Was that her innocence making a big deal out of a kiss? Or was that her mind telling her that wanting a kiss was a dirty thing? Like his had done for having a girlfriend in high school? He leant forward, their faces just a few inches apart. Her hazel eyes widened in surprise, shooting up to meet his crimson ones. They flicked down to his lips before darting back up to his eyes, her cheeks impossibly hotter. Wanting a kiss was not something dirty. He leant in closer still, the studs of his nose brushing gently against the soft skin of her nose, her eyes closing as her lips parted ever so slightly. He nudged her nose gently, moving her head slightly so he could kiss her.

Fuck. Her lips were impossibly soft as he began carefully kissing her, trying to hold back, trying not to let her feel his strange piercings against her soft, smooth skin as the taste of vanilla gently tugged at him. Hesitantly, she began kissing him back, her eyes scrunching lightly. He pulled back slightly, Levy following with him. He leaned in again, stroking her cheek gently with his rough thumb. Her expression softened as she leant into his hand, relaxing under his touch, clearly thinking less about how to kiss, allowing him the sweet taste of honey.

She was doing pretty damn well for her first kiss.

He smirked into their kiss and her left eye cracked open a little. He applied a little more pressure into their kiss, releasing her hands so he could cup her face in both of his hands. She nervously lifted her hands up to his neck, catching his hair slightly. He hissed at the tug and she tried to pull back. He just kissed her harder. She slid her hands into his hair, deliberately tugging towards her. He grinned, giving her several kisses without pulling away.

"I thought I heard you here, Gajeel." Blondie's voice cut in.

He snapped his head in the direction of the open doorway, trying to cover his startled expression with a pissed off one. He glanced back at Levy, finding her suddenly at the far end of the couch. He gave her what he hoped was a successful reassuring smile. She smiled back at him sheepishly, the heat back in her cheeks as she turned her bashful gaze back to her best friend. He glared up at the blonde girl standing just inside his girlfriend's doorway.

"What of it?" He growled over the back of the couch at her.

"Nothing, really. I was just making sure you weren't here to break Lev's heart." She replied smugly, her arms folded almost triumphantly over her bountiful chest. "Looks like I have nothing to worry about."

"No, you don't, so fuck off." He snapped, turning around so that he had his back to her.

"Gajeel!" Levy exclaimed, glaring at him.

"Hey, she was the one who just walked in and started with pointless half-assed threats when she's been as much of an ass as I have." He growled, folding his arms over his chest.

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Lucy demanded, striding up to the couch to tower over him.

"Don't play dumb!" He snapped, rounding on her as he suddenly stood up, towering over her. She took half a step back, clearly fighting the urge to back down. "Stop messing my little brother around. Make up your damn mind – either way, I don't care – but just stop messing him around!"

"I'm not messing him around! We're just friends! Why can't you get that?!" She shouted, her hands balling by her sides. "Why can't a guy and a girl be friends?!"

"A guy and a girl can be friends. They can be damn good friends! The problem is the fact that that's not what's going on! He's madly in love with you and you're ignoring him!" Gajeel snarled, refusing to pull back, even as she visibly flinched.

"I'm not ignoring him." She stated quietly, her right hand coming up to rub her other arm. "And he doesn't love me... He's the one messing with me."

He stared down at her, unable to tighten his slack jaw. She seriously was not intentionally messing with him...? And she honestly thought he was messing with her? What the hell?! How dumb could the two of them be?! His brother would do anything for this girl, even risk life or limb, even though he thought she did not think of him as more than a friend...and she actually liked him as more than a friend, but just thought he was messing with her? Well, the brat did have a childish personality trait, but Natsu was pretty damn serious about this completely oblivious girl in front of him.

"He's not messing with you." Gajeel finally replied, sighing heavily. Was his brother going to kill him for saying something? "He's genuinely crazy about you. He'd literally take a bullet for you – no joke – and he thinks you want nothing more than to be friends. When he tries to 'make a move', you tend to get...well, hostile. I admit, I don't approve of the whole 'jump in your bed while you are asleep thing' he does, but you get defensive at the simple mention of the two of you being together...and he's pretty dense, so if you've been giving him any _positive_ signals, then he's probably missed every single one of them."

"See, I'm not the only one. Then again, I never was the only one – pretty sure all of our friends have noticed, Lu." The shrimp smiled, shaking her head. "I told you Natsu was crazy about you and now his brother has told you the exact same thing – _after_ being angry with you for messing his _deeply-in-love_ little brother around."

"Does he really love me?" She mumbled, her cheeks holding a pink tinge as she studied the seemingly interesting carpeted floor.

"Yeah. It's not even a childish crush, it seems more like the love I remember my dad and the kid's mum had." He answered, swallowing an annoying lump that tried to grow in his throat at the memory of his kind-hearted stepmother. "You want a lift to ours?" He added, unsure how to continue.

"No, I'll call him." She replied, a small smile growing on her lips. "I'll even let him come in the front door." She added with a quiet laugh. "And the two of you might want to close the front door next time you decide to have a make out session." She winked as she suddenly hurried for the door.

Well, fuck. At least it had only been Blondie that came in...and not that woman that had been caught in their intercom chat on their first date. She would probably have had him kicked out the building and slapped a restraining order on him for good measure. That seriously would have been a dampener on the mood. At least they had ended up talking about mushy stuff? Maybe that would have the shrimp back in the mood for some more kissing?

"Want to go to bed?" Her voice chipped in.

"I'm going to assume that's more innocent than it sounds unless you make it perfectly clear that you meant it otherwise." He stated, making his way for the bedroom. He did not need to see the mortification on her face to know it was there. "I'm also assuming it's a fully clothed session."

"You- I- We-"

"We can still kiss, if you want." He added, refusing to look at her as he felt his own cheeks burn. Why was he getting embarrassed?! It was not as if he had not slept with someone before! And he had been kissing her pretty damn hard just now! His nipped the inside of his lip, piercing it between his sharp canines. He could still taste that innocent vanilla, that sweet honey, the innocence and sweetness that made her. He did not want to know what he tasted like – probably frozen berries and bay leaves. "Are you coming?" He sighed, glancing back at her over his shoulder from the open doorway of her bedroom.

"Y-Yes!" She squeaked, suddenly darting past him.

He grinned as her bedroom came into focus. Judging by the condition of the rumpled quilt and the open book on top of it, she had been in bed reading when he had rang her doorbell. How inconsiderate of him. He chuckled as she quickly tried to sort her bed, oblivious to him as he walked up behind her. He wrapped his arms gently around her waist, pulling her against him. She froze in his arms, her fingertips barely brushing her book.

"You can go back to reading, if you want." He murmured into her ear, feeling her relax in his arms. "I hadn't originally planned to stay and I have no problem dozing off to the sight of you enjoying one of your books," he continued, keeping his voice low, watching as his breath caused her hair to flutter slightly, "as long I get to hold you." He placed a gentle kiss on her neck, right over her pulsing artery.

"No funny business." She pouted as she spun in his arms to look up at him.

"None, I pro-"

She pressed her lips against his, silencing him. She pulled back to look up at him and he snapped his serious expression back into place, trying to cover his surprise. She had just kissed him. Little Miss Innocent had just made a damn move after demanding he did not do anything! How was that fair?! He felt her arms snake around his neck, her hands entangling in his hair. She gently tugged him towards her, holding his gaze as her pupils dilated ever so slightly. Was that because of the lack of light? Or was that-

He hissed as their lips met, her kiss more determined than before, her taste of vanilla and honey seeming to change slightly. What was that? Maybe he had her wrong, but there was something else there. She tugged harder on his hair, snapping him from his thoughts. He had plenty of time to work out what that third taste was. He tightened his grip around her waist with his left hand, sliding his right down to finally cup her amazing ass. She pulled back. He blinked, suddenly aware of the space between them.

"I said no funny business." She winked as she climbed into her bed. He watched her silently, unsure what, exactly, he was supposed to do. "Are you coming?" She frowned, patting the bed next to her.

"Not yet, but I'm pretty sure you'd count that as 'funny business'." He smirked, taking advantage of her surprise and mortification to climb over her to the empty half of the bed. He launched the cushions from the bed before climbing under the covers, already regretting wearing a pair of jeans.

"I needed those..." She mumbled once he was finally settled.

"For what?" He frowned, shifting slightly at her look of frustration.

"I need them so I can sleep." She explained, gripping her book unnecessarily tightly. "I curl into them."

"Curl into me." He grunted as he looked away from her, moving his arm so that it lay along her pillow. "You can just use me like a giant cushion..." He offered, avoiding her awed expression. "Wendy does." He admitted quietly.

"I know." She smiled softly, shifting closer to him to rest her head on his shoulder, tucking her book into his side. "You're a gentle giant with her." He closed his eyes, hoping she could not see the burning line that stretched between both of his ears. "I like that you're brasher with me and still manage to make me feel as safe as you do."


	9. Chapter 9

**AN: Fairy Tail belongs to Hiro Mashima!**

 **Hey!**

 **So, fun fact: this is saved on my laptop as "My Brother's Girlfriend's Neighbour" and was named so because it was originally written in first person. But I changed that because, in my opinion, it worked better in third.**

 **Not so fun fact: this is the final chapter. Thank you so much to everyone who's taken the time to read this, review, reblog, comment, even just like or follow. It really has meant a lot to me, so thank you. It really does keep me going and inspires me to keep writing. I hope you've enjoyed this little roller-coaster. This final chapter is a little longer than the others, by about a third of a chapter (oops?) but hopefully this is a fitting end.**

 **Please enjoy, hope to see you all again some time!**

* * *

 **Chapter Nine**

"Hey, Metalface, Lev's here."

"Tell her I'm out." Gajeel sighed, staring at the blank, smoke-grey painted wall. Why?

"She's downstairs." Natsu added awkwardly from his bedroom door.

"Tell her I'm sick." Gajeel mumbled, resisting the urge to pull his quilt over his head. He was not a kid.

"She'll want to come up, even if you were, idiot…" His brother replied, likely shaking his head. "She'll understand?"

"Understand what?!" Gajeel snapped, crushing a handful of quilt. He screwed up his eyes, desperate to not cry, even with his back to his younger brother.

"She was there for me, she'll be there for you…" Natsu began, his voice hardening a little. Even his brother was losing his damn patience with him. "She's your girlfriend, she wants to be there for you."

"Look, just tell her to leave…please?" Gajeel sighed, feeling a single tear escape his left eye and roll down the side of his face to soak into his black pillowcase.

"She's cooking dinner, so that would be kinda rude?" Natsu snorted in obvious amusement.

"Fuck. I'll be down in a minute – don't let her burn the place down before I get there. Fuck," he groaned, rolling over to look at his brother, "actually, tell the kid not to let Shrimp burn the house down. Ya'd help her."

"First time I've seen your face since the funeral, Metalface," Natsu grinned, a softness in his eyes, "good to know it's not some imposter curled up in my brother's bed."

"Fuck off." Gajeel sighed, unable to muster the energy to even snap at the idiot.

* * *

"Ya didn't have to come over." Gajeel mumbled, standing awkwardly in the doorway.

"I haven't seen or heard from you in two weeks." Levy replied, sadness dampening her attempt at a soft smile. "What else could I do when you wouldn't answer my calls?"

"Sorry, Shrimp… I just haven't felt like talking to anyone." He admitted, looking away from her searching hazel eyes.

"We didn't have to talk. I'm not expecting you to be happy and chatty, Gajeel." She returned, crossing her arms over her chest. "Your father just died – no-one should expect that of you right now."

"It was over three weeks ago now. Pretty sure the whole world expects me to be back to normal." He snorted, mild irritation bubbling up inside him.

"No, but most people would have tried to get back to their lives by now. I'm not trying to tell you what to do, Gajeel, but your sister needs you. She's lost her dad too and you're just lying in bed – did you know Lu's been sleeping on your couch, cooking meals for the three of you?" Levy sighed, adjusting the strap of her handbag.

"What?" Gajeel blinked. How the hell had he not known Blondie had been staying?!

"Yeah, I would have come, but I figured you'd decided you wanted nothing more to do with me… We are just starting out after all. Or we were." Levy frowned, her gaze drifting down to his feet. "Lu wanted the night off and Natsu has spent the entirety of the last week trying to persuade me that you do actually want me here… When you took so long to come down… Well, I thought he'd been wrong and you really did want to end things."

"No." Gajeel gulped, stepping forward. He gently gripped her chin and tilted her head back to look into her eyes. "I do still care about ya, Shrimp. I really do."

"Then wh-"

"Because I didn't want ya seeing me like this. I'm a complete mess. Last thing I did was argue with my old man and now he's dead. I don't regret that argument. Just wish I could tell him that some good came out of it… and if I could rewind time, I'd have sent him a damn photo of us lying in bed, ya in my arms, so he hadn't been so damn worried that night that he'd come out fucking looking for me." He paused, taking a breath. He scrunched his eyes for a moment, only to leave them closed. He could not look at her. If he opened them, he would see those beautiful eyes of hers watering and he would fucking cry. Again.

She shifted her chin out of his grasp and he gulped. Was she going to leave him? He would deserve it. He had barely spoken to her after getting the news about his dad. He had not spoken to her at all after the funeral. He and Wendy had just curled up in his bed and cried, just like they had every night since their dad had died. He knew how much the kid needed him to get up, but she seemed so much stronger than him right now. How could she get up and go to school with a smile in place, no matter how obviously forced it was? He flinched as he felt soft lips press against his own.

"It's not your fault." Levy whispered, cupping his cheek as she gently wiped a stray tear away with her thumb. "He was in the wrong place at the wrong time."

"He was looking for me…" He growled, to himself more than his sweet, innocent, impossibly forgiving girlfriend. "He was in that bar looking for me."

"How do you know that? Maybe he just wanted a drink? Even if he had been there looking for you, you weren't the one who shot him." She replied, her voice more forceful as she pressed her forehead against his. "Gajeel, open your eyes."

"I can't." He whispered, scrunching them tighter. He was going to fucking cry.

"You can." She murmured, gently kissing him again. "I'm here for you. If you need to cry, to let it all out, I'm here. Just know that this is not your fault. You did not make him go into that bar. You did not make him stand up to some drunk guy with a gun."

"If I'd just told him where I was goin-"

"You are twenty-two years old, Gajeel. How many people your age tell their parents exactly where they're going? A tiny amount. He would _never_ have expected you to tell him where you were going – you _know_ that. This is _not_ your fault." Levy argued, anger threading through her words. "He stepped in because some drunk _asshole_ started waving a gun at his pregnant girlfriend while yelling at her that she'd cheated on him. You didn't make that happen. Your dad stepped in because he was a decent guy, not because he'd decided that maybe the guy knew where you were, which seems to me like the only excuse you could have for this being your fault."

"That was the bar I went to, Shrimp. He knew that. That's why he was there… He figured that was where I was and came out to have a drink with me…" Gajeel admitted, starting to step back, his eyes still closed. She followed after him, still cupping the side of his face. "It's m-" He clenched his jaw as she cut him off with another kiss.

"It is _not_ your fault!" She snapped, taking his face in both her tiny hands. "He'd be heartbroken if he knew you were like this, blaming yourself."

"He liked ya." Gajeel murmured, finally opening his eyes to look back at her, gently stroking her cheek. A quiet laugh escaped him at the startled expression now firmly fixed on her cute face. "As long as I fixed things with ya, he'd be happy. I should have told him where I was, let him know he'd been right… Then maybe he wouldn't have been in that damn bar. I fucked up pretty bad this time, huh?"

"No, you were both just being your typical selves. No-one would have expected anything else." She smiled, her eyes watering as she gave him another soft kiss.

"Stay with me." He demanded gently, pulling her closer to hold her against him. "Fuck." He sighed, closing his eyes as he rested his forehead against hers. "Us. Stay with us. The kid has been staying in my bed since it happened."

"It wouldn't be my first time sharing a bed with your sister." She giggled, kissing him properly this time. "Of course I'll stay. I'm just not sure the three of us will all fit in the bed…"

"Five." He corrected, opening his eyes to look back at her apologetically. "Me, you, the kid, and two out of three cats…in my king size bed."

"No problem." She winked. "I'd been a little worried it was going to be a single."

* * *

"Let me get a job."

"No."

"Why not?"

"Ya have yer own problems."

"And the money is about to run out." Levy puffed, her hands planted firmly on those wonderful hips of hers. "You don't earn enough on your own to run a house and look after all of us."

"And ya're gonna be finished school soon, so ya ain't gonna be getting the level of damn support ya get right now. I ain't gonna stop ya getting a job, but ya ain't using yer damn earnings to keep the three of us going – I'll tell the brat he has to get a job and start helping! He actually lives here!" Gajeel returned. Where had this damn argument come from? After the funeral expenses, Christmas, a couple of birthdays, months of paying bills, money was tight. He knew that.

Unfortunately, so did she.

"Well why I don't I just give up my flat? Then we could have three incomes supporting the one place?" Levy suggested, pouting cutely.

"That's our little escape." He returned, bending down to kiss her.

"Really? Escape from what?" She snorted, shaking her head at him as she dropped into one of the dining chairs.

"Dare I say looking after the kids? A chance for a night to ourselves?" He offered suggestively as he sat down next to her and kissed her exposed shoulder. He did like when she was wearing a halter top. He turned back to the pile of paperwork on the dining table. "Now to work out priorities…"

"Priorities and escapes?" Levy rolled her eyes, picking up the first one. "May I remind you that every time you stay at mine, Wendy sleeps on my sofa. Or should I say, sofa _bed_ because I decided I couldn't make her sleep on the sofa any longer?"

"She's thirteen now…" He mumbled, checking the dates on the various bills. Some of these were the same damn bills just sent a second time. He ground his teeth and sighed. "Yip, the brat is gonna have to get a job and start helping out. I can't afford to feed him and pay the bills."

"We both know you're not going to leave her here on her own." Levy sighed. He knew she agreed with him on not leaving Wendy at his alone, but she did have a damn point… When was the last time they had some actual alone time? "And I could help out too. I'm here most nights – half my stuff is here already!"

"If yer helping out, who's paying yer damn bills? This'll be ya in a few months!" Gajeel growled, finishing his biweekly task of removing the damn doubles. He snarled as he picked up one that practically yelled the words 'final notice' at him. "Guess this one is first… It's a big fucker."

"How big?" Levy asked nervously, worrying her bottom lip with her teeth.

"A week's wages big…" He groaned, letting his forehead drop heavily to the table. "I need a second job, but if I get a second job, I'd need a babysitter and then all the damn money from that job would go to the fucking babysitter."

"Gajee-"

"Yer not getting a job just to help us out. It would be like sticking a fucking plaster on a severed arm." He grumbled, beginning to bang his head off the table repeatedly. How had they even ended up in this mess? He had been careful! How much fucking money had his dad been earning to keep the four of them in this stupid four-bedroom, two-floor flat?! "It's not fair on ya and ya're gonna end up with the same problem when the system stops supporting ya."

"Look, I'll get a job, give up my flat and move in here! Half my stuff is here already, you need help, and the situation is only going to get worse if I keep my flat because then we both end up in debt – then neither of us will be able to help the other!" Levy argued, folding her arms across her chest as he finally lifted his head back up.

"Ok, _one_ , half yer stuff is _not_ here – ya've only got about ten fucking books here, not twenty giant bookcases full. Two, why the hell are ya so worried about my damn money problems? And _three_ , why would ya even want to move in here?!" He ranted, throwing his hands out in the general direction of his two siblings somewhere inside the same building. "Well?!"

"If it bothers you that much, I could get rid of some of my books…" Levy mumbled dejectedly as her gaze dropped to the table. Oh shit, what he just done?

"I have no problem bringing every single one of those books over here, ya know that." He explained softly, cupping the side of her face to make her look back at him. "And ya know I like having ya here." He finished, kissing her forehead and earning a cute giggle from his equally cute girlfriend.

"So why are you so against me moving in…?" She asked quietly, sadness lurking in those beautiful hazel eyes.

"I'm not." He sighed, nuzzling her nose to make her smile again. "I just don't want ya moving in here and helping out because ya feel ya have to."

"But I want to? I practically live here anyway, Gajeel. We're only at mine on the weekends and I know it kinda feels like our little space in the world, but I love being around our little family when I'm here." She explained, shifting her forehead from his down to his shoulder. She was so damn cute when she was embarrassed! He nuzzled in through her waves of cobalt hair to kiss her neck, before closing his eyes and releasing a sigh of warm air. "Gajeel?" His girlfriend's voice called out to him, concern clear in its tone.

"Nothing's wrong, Shimp." He murmured, chuckling as she shuddered under the feel of his breath on her skin. "I'm just happy."

"H-Happy? Really?" She squeaked and he knew those cheeks of hers would be matching his damn eyes by now.

"Of course." He smirked, nipping her neck. "My girlfriend wants to move in with me and be a part of this _big_ -ass family."

"It's not that big, Gajeel." She mused, kissing his collar bone and sending a shudder down through him. She had done that intentionally.

"Me, my two half-siblings, three cats, you, and don't forget Blondie." He replied, grinning as he pulled back to kiss her. He sighed and looked back at the paperwork. "It's not all smiles and happy endings, ya know that, right?"

"Of course I do. It wasn't even all smiles and happy ending at the beginning, but we're happy, aren't we?" She smiled, pushing a stray strand of his raven black hair back behind his ear.

"Yeah, just took me a while to stop being an idiot… Hell, it took an argument with my dad to stop being an idiot…" He frowned, looking back at her. "Ya wanna know what his last words to me were?"

"Only if you're ready." She nodded, kissing him affectionately.

"Ya can fall in love without it working out in the end. It doesn't mean it was never love, just that it wasn't meant to be." He admitted, his gaze dropping to their feet. "He'd just also told me that I was his 'amazing son', but the bastard knew how much I liked ya and that I was scared shitless that it just wasn't gonna work out… He was the wiser of the two of us." He sighed, letting his head drop to her shoulder. "And, apparently, definitely the earner in this damn house."

"What did you say?" She inquired, her voice steady.

"Fuck off."

"That's fine, if you're not re-"

"No, Shrimp, my last words to my dad, they were fuck off." He explained, releasing a heavy breath. He felt the weight coming off of his shoulders, the simple admittance of his most stupidest moment of his life easing his burden. "I can't even go back and change that."

"And I bet he took that as a thank you." She reassured, the smile clear in her tone as she lifted his head back up off of her shoulder. He looked away from her as he swiped a tear away. "We all know when you say 'fuck off', it usually either means 'thank you' or 'you are embarrassing me'." She giggled, beaming up at him.

"Fuck off." He grumbled, unable to look at that damn smile of hers. How was he supposed to argue with that? She was too damn smart and knew him far to fucking well. She giggled and kissed him again. "What we gonna do about these damn bills?"

"How soon can I move in?" His little shrimp asked.

"Ya sound as if ya're asking which jacket to wear, gihe." He grinned, shaking his head. Less than a year ago, he had been some asshole yelling down the speaker outside her block of flats and now she was asking how long before she could fucking move in? "Ya sure it's not too fast?"

"For most couples, probably." She sighed, offering him a soft, empathetic smile. "We're not most couple though. Most couples don't have this hard a start, I guess… If things hadn't happened they way they have, we would probably just be at the living-separate-but-perfectly-normal-with-each-other stage. You know, past the honeymoon, meeting friends, and even the meeting the parents stage, but we wouldn't quite be at the moving in stage."

"Hell, we weren't even going out when ya met my old man." He chuckled, grinning down at her. "I still owe Blondie for that fucking kick."

"I think she made up for that with the whole looking after your family for two weeks thing, you know." She shrugged pointedly. He just smirked and rolled his eyes. She was right, but it might have been better if the brat had been so hungry he had picked a fight. "Well?"

"Well what?" He frowned. What had she asked again?

"When can I move in?" Shrimp implored with yet another shake of her head, sending her waves gently rolling over her shoulders. It was definitely getting longer.

"Shit, well, how long do ya think it'll take to move the books?" He wondered, dragging his attention away from her hair. How long had they been sitting there?

"Just my books?" She laughed, grinning up at him.

"Shrimp, all ya've got left at yer's is yer books, a couple of changes of clothes, and some toiletries that ya have doubles of here. If ya minus yer books, more than half yer stuff is here. I'm gonna have to see if someone'll lend me a van to move yer twenty bookcases. There ain't space in my room for any, so we'll have to line the walls in here… and maybe put the last couple in Dad's old room?" He offered, reaching for his coffee. He took a sip of unfortunately cold coffee as he watched her squirm. "What?" He grunted, lowering his mug back down to the table.

"I might need a new bookcase…" She squeaked, shifting nervously in her chair.

"That's fine. We'll search some second shops and sites and find ya one." He mused, ruffling her hair. Of course she had bought some more books – hell, he was pretty sure he had encouraged her a couple of times when they had been out. He frowned as she began to wriggle _very_ uncomfortably in chair. "And?"

"I have twenty-five." She blurted, suddenly seeming impossibly small as if she wished the room would swallow her whole.

"Well, fuck." He muttered under his breath. Where the fuck were they going to put twenty-five – no, twenty- _six_ bookcases?! They did need the money… "Ya got yer laptop?" He frowned, digging his phone out of his trouser pocket.

"Yes." She sighed, resignation clear in her tone. She hopped off her chair and disappeared through to the living room before reappearing moments later with the little orange netbook.

"Go onto Facebook and look up the local for sale sites." He ordered, getting up to move to the other room.

"Where are you going?" She inquired, turning to look back over her shoulder at him.

"To take photos of the shit in my dad's room." He shrugged, walking into the living room and then out into the corridor.

He stopped outside his dad's room. He had only been in to get a few bits of paperwork. Six months. It had been six damn months since the idiot had gotten himself shot. One of the girls that he had gone to school with had walked up to him a couple of months ago and just burst into tears. He had not known what to do, what the fuck he had done. He had just awkwardly patted the girl on the back until she had calmed down enough. The tallish brunette had then waved over a little red-haired boy pushing a pram.

She had apologised and thanked him.

He reached for the door handle and took a deep breath. He was going to do this for Shrimp. They needed to move on and this was just wasted space. Wasted space that could become a library. He would lay out the more expensive clothing that had been for his old man's work and take some photos. They could sell those. Then he would take photos of the furniture. That would make a decent amount – certainly enough to pay half the outstanding bills… The expensive clothes would buy a decent second-hand bookcase, right? The rest would either go to a charity shop or in the bin. He should probably ask the kid if she wanted anything first…

"You don't have to do this…"

"No, it's time." He admitted quietly. "It's past time. Most people have to do this in the first couple of months when their remaining parent dies, so that they can either sell the place or the place can be handed back to the people it's rented from."

"Most people don't lose their parents so young." Shrimp pressed, laying her tiny hand on his large bicep.

"When the brat finally moves into Blondie's, we'll sell this place and get a smaller place on our own. We'll still need three bedrooms until the kid moves out, but it'll be ours?" He offered, taking her hand and kissing the back of it. "That sound ok?"

"Do you really want to sell it? I don-"

"I do. I don't want to spend the rest of my life living in his shadow." He admitted, squeezing her hand gently. "I wanna become someone he'd be proud of."

"He already was." She smiled, moving onto her toes to kiss him.

"I know." He conceded, kissing her back. "I do also have to give the kid half the house when she turns sixteen though."

"What about Natsu?" She frowned, a cute crinkle forming between her brows.

"The brat? He got a house and a decent chunk of money from his parents – should maybe ask him for a loan." He teased, kissing her again. "I was expecting the house to be split between me and the kid, but I wasn't expecting him to actually split the money three ways. I thought the old bastard grudged the brat everything he had to hand over… Guess I was wrong." He continued quietly.

"You used to think he hated you and wished you didn't exist, because you were a reminder of his mistake when he was still just a kid." She returned, pouting cutely up at him in her annoyance.

"Yeah, but I'd known that I was wrong… I was just stupid." He admitted, coughing slightly as he said the word 'stupid'.

"You weren't stupid, just jealous with no real reason to be." She giggled, taking him by the arm and beginning to lead him out the room. "Come on, we can do all this tomorrow in the daylight."

"I can make a start now, then we'll get finished earlier." He grumbled, beginning to turn back.

"Gajeel, I've already put all the bills away so Wendy won't see them, so let's go to bed." She puffed, pulling harder even though they both knew it would not make an ounce of difference.

"I'll come up in an hour." He growled. He had just damn well talked himself into this, he was not going to just give in now.

"An hour? Gajeel, it's already past midnight!" Levy exclaimed. Her hands rested firmly on her hips as she pointedly glared up at him. He began to feel his cheeks heat. Midnight? How the fuck had it gotten so damn late?! "You're so cute when you're embarrassed." His adorable, petite, blunette girlfriend giggled.

"Fuck off."

"I love you too."


End file.
